Bhubaneswar: Odisha para-athlete Kamalakanta Nayak entered the Guinness Book of World Record by covering 215.5 km in 24 hours in a manual wheelchair in Bhubaneswar. So far, it is the largest distance covered in a wheelchair.
The to and fro distance from Rajmahal to Master Canteen is approximately 1.14 km is the lap for super ultra-marathon. Kamal covered 43 kms in four hours, 89 kms in nine hours, 118 kms in 12 hours, 165 kms in 18 hours, 183 kms in 20 hours, the organisers said.
The 24-hour event was inaugurated at 4:30 pm on Saturday. Nayak targets to cover 215.5 kms at the end of 24 hours. Before Nayak, Portugal’s Mario Trinidad held the world record for covering the maximum distance in a manual wheelchair, covering 182.4 km.
After achieving the record, Nayak said, "Nothing is impossible in life. I am thankful to my sister and mentors, who motivated me to overcome the physical barriers." He is the only Indian, who completed a wheelchair ultra-marathon of 139.57 km in 15 hours. He has completed 16 half-marathons and 13 full marathons. Born in a village in the Puri district, Nayak is the captain of the Odisha Wheelchair Basketball Team. In 2020, he made a record-setting journey of over 4,200 km in a wheelchair.
Besides sports and marathon, he also became a champion in Peer Mentoring Paralysed Spinal Cord Injury Person across the country. So far, he has impacted the lives of about 500 persons with spinal cord injuries.
