Vedaant Madhavan becomes India flagbearer at Commonwealth Youth Games

Swimmer Vedaant Madhavan, the son of actor R Madhavan, led the 24-member Indian contingent out at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The flagbearer of the Indian team at the opening ceremony of the U18 tournament being held this week, Vedaant's appearance with the tricolour also drew high praise from the world of cinema.

Proud father R Madhavan shared a video of his son's special moment on his Instagram handle. Actress Shilpa Shetty commented on the pos, “Awwwwww. Can see Vedaant holding the flag such a proud moment."

This is not the first time the 17-year-old Vedaant has been in the spotlight of Indian sports. In 2021, he had a breakthrough securing a bronze medal in the 1500-metre freestyle event at the Latvia Open international meet. In 2022, he secured a silver medal and a gold medal in the 1500m and 800m freestyle events at the Danish Open. At the 2022 Junior National Aquatics Championships, he broke the junior national record in the 1500-metre event.

in April this year, he won five gold medals for India at the Malaysia Invitational Age Group Swimming Championships.

India will be competing in Athletics, Swimming, Cycling and Triathlon at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games. Beach volleyball, netball and rugby are the three sports at this meet which will not see any Indian participation.

In Athletics, Bapi Hansda, who became the first Indian in history to win a silver in the men’s 400m hurdles at Asian Youth Athletics Championships in April, will lead India’s 8-member contingent.

Vedaant Madhavan is leading the Swimming contingent, which also features Hashika Ramachandra, a budding star who was adjudged the best female athlete of the 2022 National Games.

At the last edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games held in the Bahamas in 2017, India bagged 11 medals - four gold, one silver and six bronze.

India Full Contingent at 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games

Athletics: Abhay Singh (men’s 200m), Navpreet Singh (men’s 400m), Bapi Hansda (men’s 400m hurdles), Arjun (men’s javelin throw), Asha Kiran Barla (women’s 800m), Shireen Ahluwalia (relay), Anupriya Sasi (women’s shot put)

Swimming: Hashika Ramachandra, Palak Joshi, Ridhima Veerendrakumar, Shoan Ganguly, Utkarsh Patil, Vedaant Madhavan

Cycling: Gargi Bishnoi, Priyamvadha Dhanyadha, Aashirwad Saxena, Aakshar Tyagi, Srimathi Jesudasan, Jitendra Vedant Jadhav

Triathlon: Yajat Aiyappa Kandanda Praveen, Telheiba Soram, Dolly Devidas Patil, Keerthi Sakthivel