Raipur, March 28 Weightlifter Nikita ended Chhattisgarh's wait for a gold medal, while Odisha's women swimmers clinched all three gold medals on offer on the fourth day of the Khelo India Tribal Games 2026 here on Saturday.
Nikita dominated the women's 77kg weightlifting event, comfortably winning the gold medal in the last event of the day, while Odisha won gold through Ritika Minz (100m freestyle), Anjali Munda (50m Backstroke), and the 4x100 medley relay team. Anjali finished with five golds, four of them in individual races.
Arunachal Pradesh were also major medal contenders, winning both the men's weightlifting gold medals and closing in on third place, currently held by Assam with four gold, seven silver, and three bronze medals.
Karnataka continued to lead the medal tally with 15 gold, six silver, and three bronze medals, while Odisha were second with seven gold, three silver, and 10 bronze medals. Chhattisgarh were seventh with eight medals (one gold, four silver, and three bronze).
Having won four silver and three bronze medals from the swimming pool, Chhattisgarh's sports fans were eagerly awaiting a gold medal from their athletes, and Nikita fulfilled their wish with a dominant performance in the women's 77kg category at the open ground in Pt Ravishankar University.
The 20-year-old Nikita lifted a total of 160kg (70kg in Snatch and 90kg in Clean & Jerk), lifting 34kg more than second-placed Srimati Jani of Odisha. Joyshree Patir of Assam took home the bronze medal with a total of 118kg.
"I had been training for the whole year preparing for these games, and I was confident of winning this gold medal once I came to the weightlifting arena for weigh-in," Nikita told SAI Media.
Dimpi Sonowal led an Assam 1-2 in the women's 69kg category with a total of 155kg, with Pallavi Payeng taking the silver with a total of 131kg. Ruba Tadu (men's 88kg) and Lalu Taku (Men's 94kg) enhanced Arunachal Pradesh's chances of breaking into the top three as they clinched the gold medals with relative ease.
Tadu lifted a total of 274kg for gold, while Taku aggregated a total of 250kg in the 94kg category.
In the swimming competition, Assam's Krow siblings Nibir Krow and Violina Krow won a gold and bronze medal, respectively, on the last day of competition at the international pool here. Nibir clinched the top spot in 50m Backstroke with a time of 31.31 seconds, pushing Karnataka's Dhoneesh N (31.39s) to second place.
Earlier, Violina won the bronze medal in 100m freestyle with a time of 1:16.62s, with Odisha taking home the gold and silver through Ritika Minz (1:12.93s) and Krushna Priya Nayak (1:15.77s).
Karnataka concluded the swimming competition with 15 gold, five silver, and three bronze medals. Karnataka's Manikanta L topped the chart with eight golds and one silver, while Dhoneesh M finished with five golds and one silver medal.
In the women's section, Karnataka's Meghanjali bagged four golds and two bronze medals.