TVM rain medals as Kerala 'Olympics' begin; Inclusive Sports wrapped up in a day, but with a promise

The sun came out with a vengeance as athletes warmed up for the Kerala State School Sports & Games, projected as the Kerala School 'Olympics', at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.

At the same time events were underway at 11 other venues scattered across the city. By noon the climate changed and it began to drizzle, then pour, turning the vicinity of a few venues, especially the main one at the Central Stadium, muddy.

It might take a day or two more for athletes from other districts to adjust to the conditions in the state capital, but meantime the hosts made a giant push in the points table, racking up at least 212 medals, including 77 gold on the first day of the week-long sporting spectacle.

Kannur and Thrissur were second and third with 38 and 34 gold medals respectively, with Kozhikode (28) and Ernakulam (27) closely behind. For Thiruvananthapuram, the major haul came in Games, where they accumulated 60 gold medals. Thiruvananthapuram also dominated aquatics events at Pirappancode, bagging 43 medals, including 17 gold. Thrissur came a distant second with 13 medals, of which four were gold, while Ernakulam claimed two gold.

Only two swimmers managed to clock record timings on the opening day. In sub-junior boys 50 metre Butterfly Stroke, Ajeet Yadav of Sports Authority of India (SAI), Thrissur and Johan Julian P J of Rajagiri HS Kalamassery, Ernakulam, broke a 12-year-old record of 0:30.00 held by Nikhil A R. Johan finished on an impressive time of 28.89, but Ajeet took gold with a new record of 27.99 seconds. There are 79 more gold medals to be claimed from the pools over the next three days.

Inclusive Sports to be multi-day?
Meanwhile, the Inclusive Sports events, held as a one-day activity, like in its inaugural edition last year, concluded with Palakkad taking the overall title on 90 points, pipping Kozhikode (80) and Thiruvananthapuram (78). Palakkad amassed 54 points from athletics, while Kozhikode topped the Games events as part of Inclusive Sports.

Onmanorama asked General Education Minister V Sivankutty about the possibility of turning Inclusive Sports into a multi-day activity and not a one-day affair. The minister said it would be taken into consideration. "We will consult parents and teachers on the possibility. Yes, ideally it would be good to have Inclusive Sports for more than one day and give the participants a proper games experience," Minister Sivankutty said.

It is time for athletics
Track & field events are the glamourous part of the State School meet and day one of athletics is Thursday. Ten finals are scheduled on the day, including the races to determine the fastest athletes.

All six 100m finals in sub-junior, junior and senior categories will take place in the afternoon session. The morning session will begin with four back-to-back finals in junior and senior 3,000 m races. All track events are scheduled to take place at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium, though the field events might be shifted to the University Stadium as the pitch at the main athletics venue is being maintained by Super League Kerala side Thiruvananthapuram Kombans football club.