Gill hails Asiad success; hopes for good show at Olympics

Sports Minister M S Gill today congratulated the Indian medal winners at the Guangzhou Asian Games in China and said country's brilliant performance in the quadrennial event has set the foundation for a good show at the 2012 London Olympics.

Sports Minister M S Gill on Friday congratulated the Indian medal winners at the Guangzhou Asian Games in China and said country's brilliant performance in the quadrennial event has set the foundation for a good show at the 2012 London Olympics.

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"I am very happy at the outstanding performance of Indian athletes at the ongoing Asian Games. Overall, performance is excellent of our sportspersons. I am confident that they will do well at London Olympics in 2012," Gill said in his congratulatory message.

"I particularly noted the gold winning performance of Joseph Abraham and Ashwini Chidananda in 400m hurdles. Tintu Luka also did credibly well by winning bronze in 800m. She has got great potential. I also noted the performance of Vikas Krishan, the boxing boy from Bhiwani," said the sports minister.

Gill also added that the government provided all kinds of financial support to the athletes to prepare better for the event and said the same kind of monetary assistance would be ensured to the sportspersons for the next two years leading up to the Olympics.

"I also hope everybody notes the Government of India's contribution to this. Against the normal budget of Rs 40 crore for coaching, the government provided Rs 687 crore for two years before the Commonwealth Games. I will be pushing to maintain the same level of support for the next two years, upto the London Olympics," he said.

Earlier today, speaking to the reporters outside the Parliament, Gill had said he was especially pleased with the India's performance in the track and field events.

"I am thrilled with the performance of girls in track and field events. More medals are likely to come and we will have a better performance in the 2012 London Olympics," Gill said.

India has so far bagged 12 gold, 15 silver 32 bronze medals in the ongoing Guangzhou Games. Gill hails Asiad success; hopes for good show at Olympics.