CM Vijay to felicitate para-athletes as Tamil Nadu celebrates 15-medal haul

Chennai: Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay will present prizes worth Rs 17 crore to winners of the Chief Minister’s Trophy competitions on Thursday at a ceremony that will also honour Tamil Nadu’s medal-winning athletes from the Para Asian Games in Japan.

The event, scheduled from 3 pm to 5 pm at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai, will bring together sporting achievers from state-level competitions and the international arena.

Sports Development Minister Aadhav Arjuna announced that the Chief Minister would meet and congratulate the para-athletes during the felicitation programme at the Nehru Indoor Stadium complex. Their recognition will be part of the ceremony, alongside the distribution of prizes to the trophy winners.

Tamil Nadu’s contingent returned from Japan with 15 medals, comprising three gold, five silver and seven bronze. Of the 13 athletes who represented the state at the Games, nine won medals, giving the contingent a strong showing at the competition.

Bronze medals accounted for the largest share of Tamil Nadu’s haul, followed by silver and gold. With nine athletes contributing to the total, more than two-thirds of the state’s participants secured medals.

Thursday’s programme will recognise these performances while also celebrating the achievements of athletes competing at the state level. The ceremony will bring the state’s para-sport medallists together with winners of the Chief Minister’s Trophy competitions.

The trophy competitions began on October 15 and are being conducted across Tamil Nadu in 45 sports. Around 32,000 athletes are participating, highlighting the scale of the sporting programme and its reach across a wide range of disciplines. The Rs 17 crore in prizes will be distributed to the winners of these competitions.

The presentation will provide an opportunity for the state to acknowledge sporting performances and encourage talent by recognising competitive achievements. By including both groups of achievers in the programme, the government is highlighting participation in state-level competitions as well as medal-winning performances overseas.

The ceremony forms part of Tamil Nadu’s efforts to promote sporting talent and recognise excellence across disciplines. For the para-athletes who competed in Japan, the event will provide an opportunity to meet the Chief Minister and receive recognition for their contribution to the state’s 15-medal tally at the Games.