Thiruvananthapuram, Monday 28 February 2011: The ‘Go for Gold’ scheme, an ambitious project drawn up by the Kerala Government with the aim of helping athletes from the State to win a track and field medal in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, will be formally inaugurated at a function to be held here tomorrow.

Briefing the media after a high-level meeting which finalised the details of the project, Sports Minister M. Vijayakumar said 30 athletes will be trained under the scheme, which has been given shape after considering the fine string of performances achieved by athletes from the State both at the national and international level over the last two decades.

“Athletics has always been our forte over the last 20 years or so. The new scheme, with emphasis on quality training and other aspects like foreign exposure, is sure to mould our athletes into truly world class performers,” he said.

The initial intake of athletes will be from among those who won medals or represented the country in the New Delhi Commonwealth Games and the Guangzhou Asian Games.

Besides, a further 15 athletes selected on the basis of their performances in the National junior meets over the last two years will be inducted into the scheme in April. Foreign coaches will also be appointed to oversee the training programme.