Black buck is the mascot for the national weight lifting championship at Berhampur

Source: The Sambad

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Black buck was chosen as the mascot for the 64th Men and 27th Women Senior National Weight Lifting Championship scheduled to be held in Berhampur city from December 24 to 28. Mascot for the National Weight Lifting Championships was released at a function held on Tuesday. The function held at Berhampur stadium was attended by working president of the organising committee of the championships Bikram Panda, Berhampur MLA R.C.C. Patnaik, secretary of Odisha Weight Lifting Association Narayan Sahu, Berhampur Sub-Collector Ajit Mishra, Arjun award winning veteran weight lifter Bijay Kumar Satpathy, sports lovers and weight lifting enthusiasts of the city.Senior coach and member of the organising committee Ramesh Padhi said black buck was chosen as the mascot as this animal happens to be the identity of rich natural heritage of Ganjam district. Black bucks are protected with religious fervour in Ganjam district as they are considered harbingers of rain. K. Dharma Rao, an artist of Chatrapur, has designed the mascot.Venue of these two major weight lifting championships would be the Berhampur stadium.Odisha Weight Lifting Association under authorisation of Indian Weight Lifting Federation is organising them. Around 400 Weight Lifters both men and women from all States and Union Territories as well as Services, Sports Control Board, and Railways would participate in the two National Weight Lifting events. Around 100 officials will also take part.

Source: The Hindu