K’taka constitutes high-level committee to identify 75 sportspersons for Paris Olympics

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has constituted a high-level committee, consisting of former India hockey player V R Raghunath, swimming coach Nihar Ameen and ace shuttler Anup Sridhar to identify 75 promising sportspersons from Karnataka for the Paris Olympics 2024.

This follows the announcement of the ”Amrith Sports Adoption” programme announced by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in his Independence Day speech.

According to the Government Order, each of the 75 sports persons selected will receive Rs five lakh from the government for training, supplements, sports kit and so on.

The eight member committee, headed by Youth Empowerment and Sports Minister K C Narayana Gowda consists of senior officials and head of the Karnataka Olympic Association.

While Sridhar and Raghunath who are part of the committee are Arjuna awardees, Ameen is a Dronacharya award winner.

The three are also part of the Talent Identification Development Committee (TIDC) that the government will constitute for every sport that is identified under the programme.

Noting that talent identification will be done scientifically, Minister K C Narayana Gowda in a statement said, there will be training camps and tournaments to identify sports potential.

“We want India to finish in the top ten at the Paris Olympics 2024…. we want sports persons from Karnataka to be the highest medal winners,” he said.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot will gift Rs one lakh each to four sports persons from Karnataka who participated in the recent Tokyo Olympics. They include Golfer Aditi Ashok, equestrian Fouaad Mirza, swimmer Srihari Nataraj and women’s hockey coach Ankitha Suresh.

According to a Raj Bhavan statement, the Governor will honour them at a soon to be organised function