The cream of India’s athletic talent can be found in the employment rolls of this public sector undertaking, making it a powerhouse when it comes to the National championships.
A competition within the organisation, then, should offer plenty of excitement besides top quality fare and that precisely is the expectation when the 75th edition of the All India Railway athletics championships gets under way at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday.
Close to 500 athletes from different zones and units of Indian Railways will be competing over the next three days in the event which is being held for the first time in Bangalore.
“We have some of the top athletes and Olympians in our ranks and we expect some good competition here,” said S K Gupta, General Secretary, South Western Railway Sports Association, the hosts of the event.
Sprinters B G Nagaraj and Arunjith, quartermiler Bibin Mathew. Asian silver medallist hurdler Joseph Abraham, jumpers Maha Singh and Renjith Maheswary are the leading lights in the men’s section while the women’s events will witness the likes of Preeja Sreedharan (5000/10000M), Krishna Poonia (discus throw), V S Surekha (pole vault), M A Prajusha and Reshmi Bose (long jump) and Pramila Aiyappa (heptathlon).
Western Railway are the defending champions, having topped the table last year in Pune.
Meanwhile, javelin thrower Om Narayan and hammer throwers Madhu Kumar and Sukanya Mishra, who failed dope tests recently, were in the list of athletes issued by the organisers but it remains to be seen whether they will be allowed to take part.
The names of the three athletes have already been removed from the list of campers in preparation for the Commonwealth Games.