New Delhi, Jul 14: The 'Bharat in Paris' marathon was flagged off here 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. Paris Olympics 2024: PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy Get Easy Groups, Tough Task Awaits for Lakshya Sen, Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crastro.

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. India Hockey Schedule at Paris Olympics 2024, Free PDF Download Online: Check Full Fixture, Timings in IST of Indian Men’s Hockey Team Matches at Summer Olympic Games.

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.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)