Dimapur, Dec. 16 (EMN): The grand finale of the 1st Nagaland Olympics concluded on Sat. Dec. 16 at the DDSC stadium in Dimapur. Kohima has taken the overall championship based on the medal tally they took during the event.
The Olympics drew around 1, 380 athletes from 11 districts for four-days of competitive disciplines.
Various artists from different genres of music and dance performed for the athletes during the closing ceremony.
The medal tally was competitive among the districts until at the final count the team from Kohima district proved victorious by securing 28 gold, 26 silver and 24 bronze to emerge the overall champions. Dimapur district secured a close second with 27 gold, 24 silver and 19 bronze.
The chief minister of Nagaland TR Zeliang was at the closing ceremony as the event’s chief guest.
Addressing the event, Zeliang congratulated the Nagaland Olympic Association (NOA) for organizing the “mega event” in spite of severe “resource constraints” and having to work out the entire event with just a sum of INR 350 lac. He lauded all who contributed to the funds as well as the NOA.
“Indeed, it is a historic occasion for our state as this event was held with participation by all the eleven districts in twelve different disciplines which is highly commendable,” Zeliang said. The chief minister said that the event had not only expopsed sportsmen and women to various levels of competition but had also provided the ‘right avenue’ to exhibit their skills in the true spirit of the Olympic games.
The chief minister said that the inability to organize any sporting event in the state proved to be a “threat of de-recognition” for the NOA. “Therefore, in order to salvage the situation and save the state from the embarrassment of such an action by the parent body, the government had to come to its rescue,” Zeliang claimed.
Zeliang also mentioned of how sports has become a major industry in terms of employment, revenue generation and other health related activities. “As such, let us try to inculcate sports as part of our developmental programme in all seriousness” he said.
The chief minister admitted that Nagaland needed proper sports infrastructure with state-of-art facilities to promote sports and enable the youth to compete in the national and international arenas. He said that the state’s government was making all efforts to make Nagaland a sports hub in the region.
Zeliang then took the example of the recently-concluded 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in which eight players out of 11 representing the Indian football team were from Manipur.
“This clearly manifests that if exploited properly, our boys and girls can perform as good as other players from different parts of the country and the globe as well,” he said.
On a concluding note, TR Zeliang acknowledged the sporting events that are held in the state throughout the year which are organised by various organizations. “All these sporting events need to be evaluated and strengthened so that we can make use of all these events to promote sports in the state.”
