Mangaluru : The five-day National Senior Athletics Championship kick-started on a colourful note here on Thursday, though the inaugural session saw fewer people in the audience due to the transport strike.

The inaugural session was marked by various dances from Karnataka and Kerala and a vibrant march by students of various colleges.

True to the momentous occasion of the stadium hosting a national event after 28 years, the participants in the inaugural event showed a lot of enthusiasm in their dance and presentation of various folk forms.

The folk artistes’ march was after the ceremonial parade of athletes from 22 States and eight Central services teams.

“We are creating history by hosting such a prestigious event at this stadium,” said actor Sunil Shetty, who hails from Mulky. “It’s a proud day for all of us,” he said, and added that the city will also host the three-day National Surfing Festival to begin on May 28. “We are looking at better days for sports in this region,” he said.

President of Athletics Federation of India Adille J. Sumariwalla said the federation was working with the International Association of Athletics Federation and other bodies in strengthening programmes for junior athletes. Mr. Sumariwalla said that the federation will be hosting Indian School Athletics Championship next year.

Higher Education and Tourism Minister R.V. Deshpande, Environment Minister B. Ramanath Rai, Health Minister U.T. Khader, Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake and Minister of State for Youth Empowerment and Sports K. Abhayachandra Jain participated in the programme.