Dist admn holds ‘3km marathon’ to pray for Indian players on last day of Olympics

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, August 21

The Gurdaspur district administration on Sunday organised a ‘marathon’ for youngsters to “pray for Indian athletes doing duty in the Rio Olympics” oblivious to the fact that the quadrennial event has virtually come to end.

The administration thought it prudent to hold a ‘3-km marathon’ for nearly a thousand youngsters drawn from various schools, BSF jawans and activists of NGOs. The organisers termed the 3km run a ‘marathon’ even as marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 km.

Today was the last day of the Olympics and for all practical purposes the event was over for Indians, barring the men’s freestyle discipline in the 65kg category where Yogeshwar Dutt was to participate.

The run — ‘Run for Rio, khelo aur jiyo’ — commenced from the Panchayat Bhawan and after winding its way through the city roads it ended at the Gymnasium Hall.

When the realisation dawned upon the organisers that the closing ceremony of the Olympics was just hours away, the damage had already been done.

The officials were told to take the line that the event was held to pray for wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt although the official note released later said, “The marathon was held to pray for the athletes doing duty in Rio.”

Deputy Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal flagged off the run in the presence of SDM Syed Sehrish Asgar and other administration officials.

District Sports Officer Jasmeet Kaur washed her hands of the issue by saying she was just following the instructions of her seniors. “The event has been organised by the Ministry Youth Affairs and Sports. There are several districts which are holding the run today. I am not in a position to comment any further,” she said.