Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has credited the athletes and the sportspersons for their incredible achievement that ensure that the state draw the global attention.
Presenting the winners, runners-up and second runners-up trophies to Chennai, which had won a record more than 100 medals, Chengalpattu and Coimbatore, respectively in the closing ceremony of the CM’s Trophy held over two weeks across the State in the presence of Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin, he said the mega state games came to an end with a memorable high.
A total of Rs 37 crore was distributed as prize money to the medal winners of the CM Trophy 2024, at a grand event held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday evening.
Addressing the athletes, Mr Stalin said, “TN has become one of the frontrunners among states in promoting sports in India and I congratulate all the winners. The CM Trophy tournament spread over various disciplines is to unearth hidden talent and the TN government will do everything to support athletes to shine on the national and world stage.”
The Chief Minister also spoke about the importance of participation in sports and said he was looking forward to a much bigger turnout next year and promised all help for the sportspersons, while highlighting the efforts taken by the state government with the Deputy CM at the helm holding the sports development portfolio, by organising various international tournaments, including Chess Olympiad, International surfing, ATP Tennis events, Asian Hockey, that put TN on the global map.
Mr Udhayanidhi also congratulated the toppers and advised better luck next time for those
who could not finish in the podium.
Earlier, table toppers Chennai and second placed Chengalpattu signed off their campaign with a gold medal each on the final day as the Games will be remembered for the spirited performance by Cerebral Palsy athletes, Olympians and Paralympians facing off with upcoming stars and a festival feeling of sports that hooked one and all over the last 21 days.
Chennai expectedly topped the standing, winning 105 gold, 80 silver and 69 gold with only third placed Coimbatore joining them in crossing the 100 medals mark.
Chengalpattu took the second spot in the medals tally due to their superior gold medal count at 31 along with 26 silver and 36 bronze medals. Coimbatore ended with 23 gold, 40 silver and 39 bronze medals.
Salem was the biggest mover on the medals tally from the last edition as they jumped to fourth spot from 19th in 2023, winning 21 gold, 12 silver and 23 bronze. Dindigul was the other big moved as they jumped from 17th spot to 6th with 16 gold, 7 silver and 11 bronze.
The 2024 CM Trophy is one of the largest grassroot initiatives and this edition has attracted over 33,000 participants from 38 districts and competed across five categories–school, college students, public, government employees and differently-abled persons–in 36 sports disciplines.
Prior to the state meet, district level competitions were held across the state in which over
11 lakh players participated.
This was the first time that all the 38 participating districts found a spot on the medals tally
with Nilgiris taking the last spot thanks to a bronze medal winning performance by A Nafila
in school girls’ chess competition.
More importantly, all 38 districts managed to win at least one gold medal in the Games.
But more than the medals, it was the passion and spirit of cerebral palsy athletes that
mesmerised the spectators as they competed in football and athletics competitions.
This year also saw the addition of track cycling, para shot put, handball, chess, fencing,
judo, gymnastics and squash to the Games program along with Esports as a demo sport,
that attracted over 5000 competitors in 8 categories.
The district and regional level competitions saw a 42% increase in participation while the
CM Trophy overall saw an increase of 72% in total registrations.
However, the most important take away from the Games was the abundance of talent that
was on display from across the state and the government would now chalk out a forward
path for the school and college athletes through SDAT scholarships and CM Champions
Foundation.
