Sports gets a tremendous response

Approach the game with no preset agendas and you’ll probably come away surprised at your overall efforts. - Phil Jackson, American basketball coach.

F or sportspersons who participated in the state-level Dasara sports meet, Raitha Dasara and adventure sports they would probably agree with the words of Jackson.

Spread over the last week, sports came to the forefront in the city, with hundreds of athletes arriving to take part in the annual event.

The Dasara sports meet offered athletes and swimmers to show off their prowess and it also gave a chance for many to beat several meet records. Two  of them included records, which were unbroken for nearly 20 years. While Dasara sports meet gave athletes an excellent platform to display their skills, boys and girls from the rural areas had a chance to showcase their talent at the Raitha Dasara.

The sports meet for people from rural areas had interesting sports such as carrying water pots on head for women. Men carried sacks of fertiliser and set the track ablaze at the hard Oval Grounds.

The rural youth showed their might by lifting nearly 80 kg boulders with elan. Thammegowda of Naganahalli on the outskirts of the city left everybody awestruck by lifting the boulder 12 times in just two minutes.

However, the most successful event going by the number of participants had to be the half-marathon. More than 1,900 participants gathered at the Jayamarthanda gate to participate in the event.

Speaking to City Herald, Rahul, a resident of the city who works with an IT firm in Bangalore, said that he had been preparing for nearly three months to complete the run. “Winning or losing doesn’t matter. I just wanted to complete the run... Working in an IT firm you don’t tend to lose out on your physical fitness, so I thought if I prepare and finish this race, then it would help me stay fit.”

Lending her charm to the run was cine actor Nidhi Subbaiah. While the limelight was on the half-marathon, an event that tested the endurance of sportspersons was climbing the Chamundi hill. Nearly 130 took part in the event, but boys and girls from Mysore with a home advantage made sure they emerged victorious against competitors from Bangalore.

The kite festival also drew a large crowd and various models depicting tigers, eagles, comic hero Batman, the jumbo savari and others garnered the attention of the visitors at the helipad near Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel.

For sports lovers, Dasara offered a perfect chance to test their limits and also enjoy outdoor activity to the maximum.