Marathon will be held as part of inaugural Kerala Olympics on May 1

Kerala Olympic Marathon will be held as part of the first ever Kerala Olympics on May 1, organisers said on Saturday.

The first ever Kerala Olympic Games which was slated to be held in mid February has been rescheduled to May after considering the pandemic situation. The 21.1 km-long half marathon will be held on May 1 and the registration for the same can be done online from March 7, Kerala Olympic Association secretary general S Rajeev said in a release. The Kerala Olympic Association (KOA), which is organising the event, said the Games have been rescheduled to begin from May 1 to 10. Earlier, the Games were scheduled to be held from February 15 to 24.

KOA said the marathon will have Rs 11 lakh as prize money for the winners in various categories. "The winners among both men and women section will receive a prize money of Rs 50,000 each. The second position holders will get Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 for the third position," KOA said. The release also said those who finish in fourth position will get Rs 15,000, while those in fifth and sixth position would get Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000, respectively.

There are three categories based on age -- the first being from the ages between 18 to 45, the second category is the senior section between the ages 45 to 55 and the veteran section from the age of 56 onwards. The KOA expects over 1,000 participants from across the country. Those interested can register through the KOA website from March 7 to April 15, the release said.

As per the revised schedule, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the Kerala Olympic Games on April 30. KOA office-bearers said the mega Olympic Expo including, a sports expo where major sports goods and equipment manufacturers from across India will participate, has been rescheduled to April 29. During the inaugural ceremony, Tokyo Olympics medal winners will be honoured. Earlier on December 22 last year, state Education Minister V Sivankutty had unveiled the mascot of the games, a rabbit named Neeraj, in honour of Neeraj Chopra who became the first Indian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal.

The meet will be conducted on 24 disciplines which includes athletics, aquatics, archery, basketball, boxing, badminton, cycling, football, wrestling, hockey, judo, karate, kambadi (kabaddi), Kho-kho, netball, rugby, rifles (shooting), wushu, tennis, table tennis, Taekwondo, volleyball and weightlifting. Ahead of the Games, district games were held in all 14 districts and athletes and teams selected from the district-level will participate in the Kerala Olympics Games. More than 8,000 sportspersons are expected to participate in the Kerala Olympics.