Pune: Deccan Gymkhana Club and the Pune District Amateur Athletic Association (PDAAA) felicitated Olympians from the city on Thursday on the occasion of the centenary year of India's Olympic Games debut.
Rekha Bhide-Mundphan (Moscow Olympics, 1980), Manoj Pingle (Seoul Olympics, 1988), and Balkrishna Akotkar (Tokyo Olympics, 1964) were present during the event.
Akotkar said, "We created our ground on our own during our times. It was a great era. Our country is making good progress with regards to the Olympics games participation."
Rekha Bhide-Mundphan said, "This felicitation has come at a time when there is a pandemic situation of COVID-19 and we all are thankful to the organisers for felicitating us. As a sportsperson, we are ready to serve the society even today if the need arises."
Pingale also thanked the organisers saying that he dreams of giving at least one Olympian to the city. Pingale has started his own academy in the Kondhwa area where he is training young boxers.
The Indian Olympic Association was formed on November 8, 1919, at the Deccan Gymkhana. Sir Dorabji Tata was elected as its first president. Indian athletes participated at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics in Belgium for the first time. These games were held soon after World War I.
Vishwas Lokare, Secretary of Deccan Gymkhana Club and Abhay Chajed, President of the Pune District Athletics Association had organised the event to revisit the memories of India's Olympic Games debut and felicitate some Olympians from the city. Ajit Lakra (Barcelona Olympics, 1992), Vikram Pillay (Athens Olympics, 2004) and Lalita Babar (Rio Olympics, 2016) were also invited for the event.
The Indian Olympics Association had met at Deccan Gymkhana, about a hundred years ago, to finalise and field the first Indian team at the Antwerp Olympics in 1920, the PDAAA officials recalled. More such events have been planned to mark the centenary year, the organisers stated.
