GAIL - The Fastest Indian identifies potential Olympic-level sprinters

GAIL – The Fastest Indian winners

New Delhi, January 16, 2014:

The first edition of ‘GAIL-The Fastest Indian', India's most ambitious sports talent hunt with an aim to identify Olympic medal winners in Athletics, today reached its crescendo in the presence of Hon'ble Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Padma Shri Milkha Singh, GAIL Chairman and Managing Director Shri B C Tripathi and other dignitaries.

The grand finale of the event, which has traversed through 19 cities across the country from Guwahati to Ahmedabad, Kochi to Chandigarh, was held today at The Thyagaraj Sports Complex, Delhi. Altogether, 18 boys and girls in emerged winners in different categories. During the league stage, the GAIL-TFI engaged over 5,000 boys and girls in the age group of 12-14 years across the country in last 4 months.

The winners will now be groomed with an aim of making them next "Milkha of India" and securing medals for the country in 2020 Tokyo Olympics. They will be provided specialized training from renowned national and international sports trainers as well as complete scholarship up to post-graduation. Besides, Flying Sikh of India, Shri Milkha Singh, who is also the principal mentor of the event, will be providing his valuable guidance to the winners.

Commenting on the event, Hon'ble Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Shri Dharmendra Pradhan said, "I'm very happy to be associated with GAIL-The Fastest Indian event. Talent in our country is raw and has to be refined. GAIL's quest to identify the fastest Indian has unearthed untapped resources of talent across the country and I compliment the company for the initiative. Our best wishes with the winners of the event and hope that they will win medals and laurels for the country in coming years, including a medal in 2020 Tokyo Olympics."

Speaking on the occasion, Padma Shri Milkha Singh, principal mentor of the event, said, "GAIL - The Fastest Indian has now reached its ultimate destination, I am very happy that we now have Talented Young Athletes who will be thoroughly trained and groomed for the Tokyo Olympic 2020. This project was the need of the hour; it has helped in finding many bright talents from the length and breadth of this country."

GAIL Chairman and Managing Director Shri B C Tripathi said, "GAIL is a brand associated with energy, youthfulness and growth. We are India's youngest "Maharatna" company and we aspire to continue our quest of unearthing several such raw talents. GAIL-The Fastest Indian's first edition has culminated today but it is just the beginning of a journey. We are committed to make it an annual event, so that young children of our country can utilize their talent to optimum levels and continue to receive specialized trainings."

The winners of the league stages held at 19 cities across the country are listed in the tournament website (www.thefastestindian.in) .The leader board on the website reflects the talent that resides within the country.

The best runners from across the country as displayed on the leader board were given the chance to compete for the ultimate title of "GAIL-The Fastest Indian" during the grand finale. Top 8 participants on the leader board in each category (100m, 200m, 400m for boys and girls)) then participated in the finals to become "GAIL-The Fastest Indian" in their respective categories.

Shri Darshan M, Director, Spoment said “GAIL- The Fastest Indian was conceptualized with a sincere attempt to tap, support, nurture young talents and enable them to find a platform to unleash their sporting talent on an international level. The response has been overwhelming and we look forward to more such seasons while we nurture the talents we discovered in this season. We are also extremely fortunate to be associated with an entity like GAIL that believes and thrives in the power of youth just as much as we do.”

Principal partner of the event, GAIL India Limited - India's no-1 natural gas company, conceived the idea of finding the best athletics talent in the country and walked extra mile to make the event a grand success. The talent hunt matches with GAIL's vision of unearthing the unpolished diamonds from the not-so-heard places of the country and providing them proper training and equal opportunities. The GAIL support would help them in bringing so many laurels and appreciations, including medals, for themselves and the country.

The other partners who made this dream possible include IFIM Business School (Academic partner) which is providing scholarships, Anglian Medal Hunt (Technical Partner), sportskeeda.com (Digital media partner), Croma (Promotions partner), Fox Mandal (Knowledge partner), iCONGO(social justice partner), rightticket.in (Official partner), Yi (Out Reach partner) and Unibic (official cookie partner).

Results:

The Fastest Indian finale winners

100 Meters – Boys			100 Meters - Girls
Position	Name	Time	Position	Name	Time
First	Badalshokeen	11.86sec	First	Melance Rodriques	13.77sec
Second	Hari Krishna	12.05sec	Second	Ankita Chehal	13.95 sec
Third	Gautam Kumar	12.22sec	Third	Fatima Dias	14.17sec
200 Meters – Boys			200 Meters - Girls
Position	Name	Time	Position	Name	Time
First	Shivang Mishra	23.84sec	First	Ankita Chehal	28.11sec
Second	Hari Krishna	24.96sec	Second	Roli	28.47sec
Third	Gautam Kumar	24.49sec	Third	Jyotsna	28.56sec
400 Meters – Boys			400 Meters - Girls
Position	Name	Time	Position	Name	Time
First	Shivang Mishra	51.60sec	First	Ankita Chahal	1.01.40min
Second	Durga Rao	54.03sec	Second	Chaarvi Poojari	1.04.42min
Third	Navneet Kumar	54.92sec	Third	B.Bindu	1.04.61min