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Rathore's flag-bearer for Commonwealth Games
The shooter was named as flag bearer of the 270-member Indian contingent for the Melbourne Games.
Olympic silver medal winning shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was on Friday named as flag bearer of the 270-member Indian contingent for the Commonwealth Games starting in Melbourne March 15.
Announcing this at a press conference, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi said the contingent would include 186 athletes and 84 officials led by chef-de-mission H.J. Dora, president of the Weightlifting Federation of India.
Turning to Rathore, who was among some of the Melbourne-bound athletes present at the news conference, he said: "You won the silver at the Athens Olympics Games, now that you are the flag bearer you should get a gold medal."
Rathore, who clinched a historic silver in the double trap event of the 2004 Olympics, won two gold medals — double trap singles and team title with Moraad Ali Khan — at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.
Kalmadi hoped India would do better than the fourth position finish achieved at the Manchester Games.
Australian High Commissioner to India John MaCarthy, who was present on the occasion, also wished success to the Indian athletes.
"I wish you the very best of luck, but we don't want you to take the first position because we want to get that," he said, drawing a big laughter from the gathering.
"But I don't mind if you get better of the British or the Canadians," he said. And this time the laughter was even louder.
The Indian athletes, comprising 103 men and 83 women, will take part in 10 disciplines — athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, gymnastics, hockey (men and women), shooting, swimming, table tennis and weightlifting.
Only the athletics team, comprising 14 men and 19 women, has not been announced yet. It will be announced after the Federation Cup competition concludes on Friday evening, Kalmadi said.
This time India is also sending 10 male and two women Elite Athletes with Disability (EAD) to the games.
The Indian contingent will leave in several batches, starting with the swimmers Friday night. The five swimmers leave for Singapore where they will take part in the Asian Championships before heading for Melbourne, Kalmadi said.
