Baripada: International athlete Jauna Murmu of Mayurbhanj nurtures a big aim to take part in Olympics to be held in Tokyo in 2020, but financial constraint has been a major hurdle on her way to reaching the international sporting event.
She needs at least Rs 40 lakh to prepare and participate in the Olympics. No sponsors have come forward to help her out.
With a lot of hopes, Murmu met Collector Vineet Bhardwaj Wednesday at the collectorate here.
She urged the Collector to facilitate sponsorship to her though some industrial units operating across the state.
Various quarters have sympathized with the athlete. They said that the state government has been bragging about taking remarkable steps for promotion sports and sports infrastructure in the state, but that ordeal this sportsperson has been going through exposed the so-called achievement of the state government.
Jauna was born into a poor farmer’s family at Badakurum under Tiring block August 16, 1990. As her family was not well off, she had to struggle in schooling.
Despite all hardships, she aspired to be an athlete. Initially she was attracted towards football and later fell in love of being a sprinter.
She received coaching for sprinting through an athletic academy at Baripada, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata.
She has taken part in various sports even in the state, country and abroad.
She has taken part in Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Asian All-star Athletic Meet, South Asian Games in 400 metre race. She has even struck gold too.
She is not pursuing her post-graduation at KIIS. She has got a job under sports quota at ONGC.
However, the salary she receives is not sufficient to meet the expense of coaching. MASA, a tribal students’ association, demanded government help to a budding sports talent of the tribal community.