RAIPUR (Chhattisgarh, India): It was a mixed day for Jharkhand at the athletics events of the inaugural Khelo India Tribal Games (KITG) 2026 on the eighth and penultimate day on Thursday as it dominated the athletics events, winning 4 gold medals, but lost out on adding a little more of the yellow metal to their kitty when they lost in the finals of the women’s football event.
Karnataka remained on top of the medals table as it increased its tally to 38, which includes 23 gold, 8 silver and 7 bronze, followed by Odisha with 54 medals – 20 gold, 13 silver and 21 bronze. Jharkhand is at third place with 14 gold, 7 silver and 11 bronze for a tally of 32. Hosts Chhattisgarh rose to ninth place with 3 gold, 9 silver and 6 bronze, totaling 18 medals.
Athletics
Odisha left its mark on athletics at the game with a total of 24 medals – 8 gold, 7 silver and 9 bronze medals. Jharkhand had a tally of 17, which included 9 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze medals. Thursday was the last day of athletics.
On Thursday, Shiv Kumar Soren (Jharkhand) won the gold in the men’s 200 meters, clocking 21.51. Arpan Tai (Assam) got the silver at 22.38, while Jagdish Meena (Rajasthan) got the bronze at 22.48. Odisha (Bhima Sardar, Nobal Kumar Kissan, Roshan Khadia, Dayanidhi Munda) clinched the gold in the men’s 400 meters relay, clocking 3: 18.47. Chhattisgarh (Damru Kumar, Gajendra Thakur, Abhishek Jade, Laxman Sodi) clinched the silver with 3:19.26, while Jharkhand (Ram Chandra Sanga, Manish Bedia, Rasik Chandra Hessa, Rahul Oraon) clinched the bronze with 3:19.62.
In the men’s 1,500 meters, Rahul Oraon (Jharkhand) clinched the gold at 4:01.18, Kartik Kariharpal (Maharashtra) the silver at 4:01.23, and Manish Kumar (Chhattisgarh) the bronze at 4:01.50.
Nagaland won the gold in the men’s 10,000 meters, while West Bengal won the gold in the women’s 10,000 meters.
The men’s 10,000 meters was quite close with just about 27 seconds separating the top three runner who all finished under 33 minutes, Wede Tmero (Nagaland) clinched the gold clocking 32:28.46, Kamlakar Deshmukh (Maharashtra), who was 13.83 seconds behind, the silver at 32:42.29, and Hans Raj (Jammu and Kashmir), who was 12.69 seconds behind Deshmukh, the bronze with 32:54.98, the three being apart by 26.52 seconds. The fourth runner was 1:09.68 behind the bronze medal winner.
In the women’s 10,000 meters, Sanjita Oraon (West Bengal) clinched the gold with a timing of 40:21.18, Sandhya Murmu (Odisha) the silver with 41:17.79, and Balarisha Thyrniang (Meghalaya) the bronze with 42:29.41.
In the men’s javelin throw, Gulab Singh (Madhya Pradesh) won the gold with a throw of 62.80 meters and Pramod Hagier (Assam) the silver with 62.30. Somanath Singh (Odisha) was way behind at 58.05 meters for the bronze.
In the women’s long jump, Priti Lakra (Jharkhand) cleared 5.54 meters to win the gold, Martina Lakra (Madhya Pradesh) 5.47 for the silver, and Mayuri Gamit (Gujarat) 5.42 for the bronze.
In the women’s 4 x 400 meters relay, Jharkhand (Chintamani Tuti, Shivani Kumari, Asha Kiran Barla, Tanisha Kumari) clinched the gold with a timing of 3:58.03, Odisha (Basanti Majhi, Rameswari Gond, Purnima Sandil, Amisha Oram) the silver at 4:05.69, and Maharashtra (Chhakuli Dhongade, Nandini Barela, Alka Maraskolhe, Nisha Sambar) the bronze clocking in 4:11.90.
In the women’s 200 meters, Reethushree (Karnataka) won the gold with a timing of 25.87, Anamika Oraon (Jharkhand) the silver at 26.13, and Adithya KM (Kerala) the bronze at 26.67.
In the women’s 1,500 meters, Nagini (Karnataka) won the gold with 4:43.87, Shakila Vasave (Maharashtra) the silver at 4:48.94, and Sunita Santa (Odisha) the bronze at 4:53.72.
Football
In women’s football, hosts Chhattisgarh clinched the gold beating Jharkhand by a solitary goal. For Chhattisgarh, Kiran Pisda (61) netted the winner.
There were no matches in men’s football on Thursday.
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