New Delhi: The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson personally delivered a memento of London`s thrilling Olympic and Paralympic Games to India`s six medal winning athletes here on Monday.
Every nation which competed at the London Games was represented by an individual copper petal on the spectacular Olympic and Paralympic cauldrons, designed by Thomas Heatherwick, which burnt throughout the summer`s Games.
The petals are now being offered to each country as a legacy of their sporting achievements this summer, and will be delivered round the globe before the end of the year.
The Mayor on Monday met Pradeep Kumar Deb, Secretary, Department of Sports of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, acting president of the Indian Olympic Association, and India`s bronze medallist boxer MC Mary Kom and silver medal winning pistol shooter, Vijay Kumar, to present the set of petals to India, at a ceremony hosted by the British High Commission.
On the occasion, Mary Kom said she hoped that India will do better in the next Olympics in Rio in 2016.
"I am very happy we are getting the Olympic petal next to Brazil. I hope Indian team will do better in the next Olympic," Mary Kom said.
In total 204 Olympic petals and 164 Paralympic petals will be offered to competing nations.
India`s was the third set of petals to be presented, with the first handed over by London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games chairman, Sebastian Coe to the British Olympic Association.
PTI
First Published: Monday, November 26, 2012, 17:02