For the first time India won a medal in gymnastics
Guangzhou: Suresh Kalmadi Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president today hailed India’s record-breaking performance in the ongoing 16th Asian Games at Guangzhou and termed the achievement as a creditable milestone in the country’s sporting history.
Kalmadi told PTI from Guangzhou, “I want to congratulate the athletes for their remarkable performance in the Asian Games. They had worked hard for this and it is indeed satisfying that India have recorded their highest-ever medals tally in these Games.”
There were many firsts in India’s performance during the Games and medals in disciplines like gymnastics, roller sports, rowing and archery showed that the Indian sports was heading in the right direction, said Kalmadi.
He said that India has now come a long way in some of the disciplines where no one had expected them to win medals earlier. The performance of Indian athletes has raised hopes of India doing well in the 2012 London Olympics and other multi-disciplinary events in the future.
“For the first time, we have won a medal in gymnastics. We have won a medal after 24 years in swimming. We have done exceptionally well in athletics. All this augurs well for Indian sports,” said the IOA chief.
Kalmadi is facing probe against alleged corruption charges in the recent Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Kalmadi will be coming back to India after the closing ceremony tomorrow.
