Go for Gold, Olympians told

Former Olympians took over the Madhya Kailash Junction in Adyar early on Sunday morning to encourage Indian players participating in the 2012 London Olympics.

‘India - Go for Gold @ London  2012’ was organised by Hindustan University along with Y’s Men International. Olympic greats like Shiny Wilson, V Bhaskaran, N Amarnath, BP Govinda, Devarajan, Thirumalvaluan and C Thirugnana Durai led the run, which was flagged off by Air Officer Commanding of Tambaram Air Force Station Commodore S Prabhakaran.

The run ended at the Tidel Park junction at Taramani.

Speaking to City Express, Shiny Wilson said, “This Olympics will be more competitive and provide us opportunities to win more medals. A good number of women are going to take part this year. Archery, boxing and tennis are the ones in which we can expect more gold medals.” 

Veteran hockey player and Arjuna awardee BP Govinda said, “In 2008, the Indian hockey team did not even qualify for the Olympics. It’s good to hear that they have qualified this time. There are chances of our team coming in the first four places. Even if our team manages to bag the fourth place, as a former Olympian, I will be very happy.” ‘’For the first time in Olympics, women’s boxing has been included,” said boxing veteran Devarajan, the first Indian to win a medal at the Boxing World Cup.

“From our country, seven male boxers and a female boxer are participating. We can expect a gold medal from Mary Kom, the only woman boxer from our country in this debut event. In the men’s team, there are four experienced and three young competitors. We can expect a minimum of two medals and a maximum of four,” he added.

Mike Nithavrianakis, British Deputy High Commissioner, Chennai, was the guest of honour for the run.

In his felicitation address, he said, “I  would like to see the British hockey team playing against the Indian team in the finals.”

GA Rajkumar, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu, Youth Welfare & Sports Development Department, and Dr Anand Jacob Verghese, Director & CEO of Hindustan Group of Institutions, were also present.