Uttarakhand National Games: Bapi Hansda Sprints to Glory as Odisha’s Young Star Overcomes Struggles to Shine

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The 38th Uttarakhand National Games' fastest male 400m runner, Bapi Hansda, gets emotional when you ask him about his family. "My father passed away a long time back. My mother also passed away in 2023," the 18-year-old gently said as he was heading for the medal ceremony.

The last two years have been challenging both on and off the field, but Odisha's promising teenager handled things as a seasoned athlete would.

The lanky 400m sprinter was elated to have won gold with a time of 46.82 seconds, a personal best, here on Sunday, saying it was a good start to the 2025 season.

It was a hotly contested race, but Odisha's teenager was able to edge past his more experienced rivals to earn a well-deserved gold medal. "It's early in the season, and I'm satisfied with my performance," he said while pursuing bigger goals in the future. "I should be able to improve my performance in the coming months."

Last year in March, he clocked a season-best of 46.90 seconds for the 400m. In April 2023, he clocked 51.38 seconds for the 400m hurdles. Thereafter, his focus was more on the flat 400m race due to a niggle.

However, on Monday, Hansda, who was a member of Odisha's 4x400m relay team, failed to add another medal to his tally. Running the anchor leg, he pulled out at the 200m mark due to a leg muscle strain.

Last April, Hansda missed the Asian U20 competition due to a delay in getting his passport. Later in the year, he fell ill before the World U20 Championships held in Lima, Peru. "I had dengue fever three weeks before the World Championships and couldn't maintain my fitness," he recalled. He bowed out in the preliminary round of the 400m in Peru.

Hailing from the Jajpur district in Odisha, he was spotted for the Sports Authority of India (SAI) scheme in Cuttack. As a beginner, he raced over 600m in the U14 group and then moved to 800m.

But he was more successful in the quarter-mile. Before Hansda switched to the 400m event, he was running 400m hurdles. However, a recurring ankle injury temporarily halted his progress in the low hurdles.

This year, he plans to move back to low hurdles, saying he will try again. "I will start low hurdles this season," he said, planning to switch back to the 400m hurdles as the season progresses.

Based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, he is currently enrolled at the high-performance center of the state government.

The young sprinter generally spends his leisure hours with his running buddies in Bhubaneswar and rarely visits his elder brother, who is married and lives back home in Jajpur.

"The goal this year is to make a good impression at the national level," the teenager from Odisha added. "For that, I have to stay focused."