City gears up for first international meet

City gears up for first international meet
The Times of India

Bangalore: The wait is finally over! Years after the Sree Kanteerava stadium was built, Bangalore will host its first international athletics meet — the Bangalore Asian Grand Prix on May 22.

Putting behind the disappointment of having lost out on National meets due to poor track conditions last year and the perennial postponement of the National Youth Games, Kanteerava stadium is gearing up for the mega event.

Initially, there were apprehensions about allotting the meet to Bangalore after Lalith K Bhanot, secretary of the Athletics Federation of India lashed out at the poor track conditions at Kanteerava stadium in July last year. Since then, the Karnataka Athletics Association (KAA) has been working on improving conditions at the stadium.

For starters, the work on the track has already begun.

“The repair work on the track is already under way. Once the repairs are done we will start remarking the track. We are sure this time we will not give any room for any complaints,” said Sathyanarayana, secretary of KAA. The total cost of having the meet will be a staggering 1.35 crore, which will be raised through corporate sponsorship and government funding.

In the long run, this meet will serve as a boon for Karnataka athletics, considering the upgradation of infrastructure. KAA will also introduce a photo finish camera and upgrade facilities with new throwing cage, starting blocks, javelins, pole vault bar and high jump cross bars.

In terms of competition, this meet will attract some of the best talents in Asia considering the fact that this meet will serve as one of the selection trials for the Asian team for the 10th IAAF World Cup to be held in Athens on September 11 and 12 this year. Athletes can also garner points to improve their IAAF world ranking.