One of the oldest Regiments of the Indian Army, with its Regimental Centre at Wellington in Nilgiris district, the Madras Regiment is once again proving their mettle, this time in the arena of sports.

Two “Thambis Warriors” are part of the 12-member Army contingent at Rio, Brazil, to participate in the Olympics, with Naib Subedar S. Arokia Rajiv representing the country in 4×400 m relay, and Havaldar Ganapathi K. in 20 kilometre walk.

Arokia Rajiv hails from the Tiruchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu. He was enrolled into the Regiment in March 2011 under the sports quota. Qualifying for the 4×400 m Relay at the Indian Grand Prix held in Bengaluru last month was the highest point of his sporting career. Arokia Rajiv won the gold medal in the team event.

Ganapathi, a native of Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu and enrolled into the Army on March 15, 2008, secured a berth for Rio Olympics in the National Walking Championship, held at Jaipur,
on February 27.

The Madras Regiment, and the Madras Regimental Centre, which has been their alma mater, continues to support Rajiv and Ganapathi in all their sporting endeavours to achieve higher goals, and is proud of their sportsmen.