Manipal’s Archana Jaivithal to participate in Special Olympics

Team Udayavani, Aug 14, 2021, 12:44 PM IST

Udupi: Manipal’s Archana Jaivithal will be representing India in the first-ever Special Olympics World Championship DanceSport slated to be held on August 20 at Graz, Austria.

DanceSport was officially added at the Special Olympics in 2019 and the first world championship of the sport will be held this year.

Special dancers from 13 countries, including India, USA, Norway and Ukraine, will compete in four categories (solo, duos, couples and teams).

Archana Jaivithal MJ from ‘Aasare,’ an institution run by Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) and Archana Trust in Manipal will be contesting in the classical solo category.

Archana is the only participant in this category from India. She has undergone special training in Bharatanatyam for the past few years.

Archana will compete alone for 90 minutes on August 19 and 20.

She had won a bronze medal in swimming at the 2013 Special Olympics. In 2019, she repeated the same feat once again at Abu Dhabi.

Archana will travel to Austria on Friday.