Chennai to host National para-athletics championships and Asia Triathlon Cup in February

The Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) will organize and sponsor the upcoming Asia Triathlon Cup and the 23rd National Para-athletics Championships. The Triathlon Cup will take place on February 16 at INS Adyar, while the para-athletics championships will be held from February 18 to 20 at the Nehru Stadium.

J. Meghanatha Reddy, the SDAT member secretary, and Atulya Misra, the Additional Chief Secretary to the Government, sounded confident that the Tamil Nadu government could organize the tournaments smoothly.

Fifteen nations have confirmed their participation in the Triathlon Cup, the first of the nine legs. Japan has the most participants Among the participating nations (12). Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and Nepal are second, third, and fourth on the list with eight, seven, and four participants respectively.

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Sumit Antil and other stars to take part in National para-athletics championships

India are expected to send a relatively young team since several para-athletes, who won medals in the Paris Paralympics, may not be able to take part in the tournament before the New Delhi Grand Prix in March. But the likes of Sumit Antil, T. Mariyappan, and Navdeep Singh may take part in the championships.

N Ramachandran, the SDAT vice president and president of the Tamil Nadu Triathlon Association, in a press conference, said that swimming (750 meters), running (5 km), and cycling (20 km) will be there in the event. The mascot of the National para-athletics Championships (an elephant) was also unveiled during the conference.

Thulasimathi Murugesan, who bagged silver in the Paris Paralympics last year, was also present at the press meet. In 2024, India finished the Paralympics with 29 medals, their best medals tally in any edition of the quadrennial event.

Sumit Antil defended his Paralympic crown in the javelin after winning gold in Tokyo. Navdeep Singh also bagged gold in the F41 class in javelin.