Cuttack: A girl from Athagarh has brought laurels to the State as she has been selected to take part in the 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games scheduled to be held in Berlin, Germany. She is Kalpana Jena from Regedapada village under Khuntakata panchayat in Athagarh block of Cuttack district in Odisha.
Kalpana is likely to take part in the cycle riding event in the Berlin Olympic Games. Her father Gadadhar Jena is a farmer. Due to poverty he could not arrange a cycle for her daughter. And thus, Kalpana continued her practice by lending cycles from her friends.
After making a niche for herself as an avid cyclist she became an achiever in the district level. Later, she also exhibited her skill in other States and won hearts of the nominators. Accordingly, she is scheduled to visit Delhi next month and then is likely to fly to Germany for the Games.
After knowing about the achievement of Kalpana, Athagarh MLA Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain has presented a new cycle to her. Kalpana has wanted to give the credit of her success to the villagers along with mentor Bibekananda sir, her parents and the Athagarh MLA.
Ms Kalinga