Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami inaugurated the Fifth State Olympic Games at Manoj Sarkar Sports Stadium, Rudrapur in Udham Singh Nagar on Saturday.
When the Chief Minister reached the stadium during the road show from the helipad, the players welcomed the CM by showering flowers. Dhami hoisted the national and Olympic flag and took the salute of the march past of the sports teams from various districts and formally inaugurated the games
The Joshi sisters, who had last year competed in the Asian Triathlon Cup in Nepal, trailed Pune's Manasi Mohite after the swimming and cycling rounds but took charge in the 5000m road run to push the local favourite to the third spot.
Over 10,000 athletes and officials are participating in 39 disciplines in the Maharashtra State Olympic Games which is being staged at nine venues across the state from January 2-12.
Tejaswini Sawant proved her command over the discipline with a score of 618 points, beating second-placed Bhakti Khamkar of Mumbai by a margin of 4.5 points. Pune's Pranali Suryawanshi bagged the bronze with a total of 611.7 points.
As many as 207 top shooters of the state (124 men and 83 women) will compete in rifle and pistol competitions at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex. As many as 240 wrestlers are registered to participate in Maharashtra State Olympic Games.
The Maharashtra Olympic Games are being organised after 22 years by the Maharashtra Government in partnership with the Maharashtra Olympic Association.