Over 600 specially-abled students participate in Shimla Winter Olympics

SHIMLA - Over 600 specially-abled students from twenty different states have participated in the Winter Olympics in Shimla.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal inaugurated the six-day-long event on Wednesday.

Specially-abled athletes brought the torch from the Mall Road to a local school to kick-start the event.

The sports meet was welcomed by the coaches of the teams, who believe that specially-abled people get to interact with others like them.

“These sports activities only which gives them fitness to their bodies, otherwise they are never brought out of their houses, out of their places from their respective states. This is the only thing which gives them exposure to other things, and we also have practices in our places which gives them fitness and they are exposed to other, and they make a lot of friends when they come out,” said Sita, a Pondicherry team coach.

Floor hockey is one of the main sports of the event. Two teams of the men’s and women’s categories would be selected during the event and would later participate in the Special World Olympics that would be held in Korea in 2013.

“We have come here to play hockey. We are feeling very good here. We have also won many medals before. And we will try to win medal again,” said Vipul, a specially-abled athlete.

The event would conclude on December 20, and sees participation from states like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Chandigarh, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and others. By Hemant Chauhan (ANI)