'Bharat in Paris' marathon flagged off to celebrate Indian Olympic movement

New Delhi: The 'Bharat in Paris' marathon was flagged off on Sunday to celebrate India's Olympic movement as well as the recognition of Esports by the IOC.

The race was flagged off by Union Minister of textiles Giriraj Singh and Manoj Tiwary, a member of the Parliament.

A total of 118 athletes, led by ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, will compete in the Paris Olympics, starting July 26.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Saudi Arabia government have entered into an agreement to conduct the inaugural Olympic Esports Games in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia next year.

"The Bharat In Paris event marks the recognition of Esports amongst traditional sports. The run aims to integrate traditional sports with the fast-growing Indian esports segment, which even the Government of India has acknowledged recently," a release said.

Giriraj said, "The growing opportunity of digital India offers great possibilities in leveraging new sports such as esports." Along with the run, the event also included an esports tournament with a cumulative winners' prize pool of Rs 2.64 lakh.

While the runners got a prize of Rs 1.50 lakh, the esports competitors received Rs 1.14 lakh.