Kamalakant Nayak beat Mario Trindade of Portugal’s Guinness record for ‘the most distance traversed by wheelchair in 24 hours.’
Kamalakant Nayak, an Odisha para-athlete, has achieved a new Guinness World Record for the farthest distance traveled in a wheelchair in a single day.
In Bhubaneswar on Sunday, Kamalakanta completed a marathon of 215.4 kilometers in 24 hours while using a manual wheelchair. The 28-year-old Puri para-athlete began his race on the Rajmahal-Master Canteen bike track and completed the requisite distance to set the new record.
He did it by breaking the world record for ‘the highest distance traversed by wheelchair in 24 hours,’ which was officially registered in Mario Trindade’s name.
Mario ran 182.4 kilometers (113.34 miles) at the Vila Real Stadium in Vila Real, Portugal, on December 3-4, 2007, according to the Guinness World Records website.
“I was certain that my timings would go down in history as world records. But it’s the fact that I was able to complete the task with ease that makes me even happier. At the very last moment, all of my hard work and practise paid off “added an ecstatic Nayak, who now plans to compete in the Para Olympics’ wheelchair marathon event.
“My current performance has increased my self-assurance. Now I am certain that anything is attainable with devotion and hard work “he stated
After Nayak set a new Guinness World Record, his sister joined him on the blue moon.
“After my brother’s accident, all I wanted to see was a grin on his face. My desire has also come true today “Nayak’s sister stated.
Ananta Narayan Jena, a Bhubaneswar (Central) MLA, had kicked off the marathon earlier on Saturday. The State Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, as well as the Betterlife Foundation, a city-based non-profit, aided Nayak in his quest for the Guinness World Record.
Nayak is the only Indian to complete a 139.57-kilometer wheelchair ultra-marathon in under 15 hours. In addition, he has run the 2-kilometer half-marathon 16 times and the 42-kilometer full marathon 13 times.
He has served as the captain of the Odisha wheelchair basketball team and twice competed in the National Para Athletics and National Wheelchair Fencing Championships.
Prasanta Patnaik