The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : They are above 50 and still in the race

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 06, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

They are above 50 and still in the race

Staff Reporter

Sports meet aims at highlighting talent among older women

HAPPY LANDING: One of the veteran athletes in the 71- 80 age group at the All Women's Sports Meet organised on Sunday by Twilite Corpos. — Photo: R. Ragu

CHENNAI: They run for health and fitness. They spend less time on the couch in front of television and lesser on medical bills. They are energetic women, between 50 and 80 years, who sprinted, jumped and cheered at the All-Women's Sports Meet organised on Sunday by Twilite Corpos.

Supported by We Circle, Sri Krishna Sweets, Red Ribbon Club, Mithra Foundations and Women Exclusive, the event was aimed at highlighting sporting talent among athletic women.

"Going beyond beauty pageants, our aim is to bring such talented women to light," Sumathi Nivas, organiser, said.

There was Ilene George, P. Nagamani and R. Radhamani running in the 51-60 age group, S. Neelavathy, Lalitha Karthikeyan and Sajitha Begum of the 61-70 group and Daisy Victor, the lone athlete representing the 71-80 group.

W.I. Dawaram, president, Tamil Nadu Athletics Federation, who was present to encourage the team, told The Hindu that Tamil Nadu topped the overall championship in the latest edition of the Federation Cup Athletics Meet followed by Kerala and the Army team. Out of the five gold medals, four were won by women.

The same was the case with the juniors' meet and the veterans' national championship. "We have to tap these talents," he said.

The Tamil Nadu Athletic Federation plans to send a veteran athletic team to Chandigarh. Half of the team of 180 sportspersons are women, he said.

T.K. Rajendran, Additional Commissioner of Police, Olympic athlete Shiny Wilson and sportsperson V. Bhaskaran participated.

An exclusive games programme was organised for HIV +ve women.

Many roles

A veteran sportsman, who extended a helping hand in organising the event, said: "Women these days are not just housewives.

They perform many roles, as a mother and office-goer. With men going to work, they also most often attending to plumbing or electrical work at home and manage the shopping. All this calls for fitness of body and mind."

The main theme of the event: creating awareness about the need for fitness to cope with the new challenges.

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