KOA honours Mary Kom with lifetime achievement award
Special Correspondent
Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala Sports Minister V. Abdurahiman inaugurated the first Kerala Olympic Games at a function held at the University stadium here on Saturday. The 10-day sports extravaganza will feature nearly 8000 athletes in 24 disciplines across four districts - Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kollam and Kozhikode. It is an ambitious initiative of Kerala Olympic Association (KOA) with aim to provide top notch competition to sportspersons in the State. Speaking on thr occasion, Mr. Abdurahiman said the State Government had earmarked ₹1200 crore for developing infrastructure in the State. He said after completion of all projects, Kerala will become the State with the best sports infrastructure in the country. The minister said the aim of the State government was to inculcate a sports culture and make sports a part of school curriculum. He said on an experimental basis sports has been included in the curriculum in 125 schools in the State and it was well received. He added that sports would be become part of the school curriculum once the new sports act is implemented in the State. The minister also complimented KOA for conducting a big event to revitalise sports in the State. KOA’s first ever lifetime achievement award was presented to Mary Kom by Finance Minister V.Balagopal. Olympic medal winners, P.R.Sreejesh, Bajrang Poonia, Ravi Dahiya were also felicitated. The KOA also honoured sportspersons from Kerala who took part in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
