Bhubaneswar: The iconic Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar is buzzing with activity, currently hosting the Hero Intercontinental Cup and the 62nd Inter State Athletic Championship, serving as India’s new launchpad for athletes to compete in international and national tournaments. The Hero Intercontinental Cup comprising four teams; India, Vanuatu, Lebanon, and Mongolia, will culminate with the final on 18 June, where the host nation India will take on Lebanon. While the Inter State Athletic Championship kicked off on Thursday and will go on till 19 June.
Speaking on the significance of hosting two marquee events overlapping with each other, Sports and Youth Services Secretary, Odisha, Vineel Krishna assured that Kalinga Stadium will continue to strive to host world class events, making it a priority to host the finest athletes from India and across the world. “When the proposal for these events was sent to us, we indicated that June was good, but when the dates were finalized, there was some overlap due to the Asian Games Qualifying deadline. As a result, the Athletics Championship was only to be held during this time span.”
He further added, “Many people were quite surprised at how we are able to pull off two championships at the same venue with the standards that needed to be maintained for the championships. Hosting these tournaments came with challenges, but we were quite confident. Our team is also knowledgeable, having previously worked with several national and international championships. Athletics begins early in the morning and concludes by 1 p.m. and then the entire branding and facilities gets changed for Intercontinental which begins at 4 p.m.
He further opined on the tremendous value to Odisha from consistently hosting large scale sporting events, “The multisport tournaments will raise Odisha’s profile as a potential host city for important international sporting events. In addition to the international football tournament, we also have athletes from significant nations like Sri Lanka and the Maldives competing in the athletic event. They will all return with a piece of memory from Odisha. They become our brand ambassadors.” he said.
Speaking on the vision for the future, the Secretary also remarked, “We want to host multiple championships like this in the future at the same location so that the entire stadium complex is very optimally utilized. Our stadium resources are excellent, so the space and planning are all running smoothly, and we are pleased that we can now host more events at our stadium.”
