New Delhi, Jun 14 (IANS): Athletes at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium were in for a surprise on Friday morning as they were joined by Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju for a morning jog. Rijiju was keen to meet athletes during their training session for a first-hand experience of the sporting facilities being extended to them.

The sports minister spent time talking to athletes and coaches from various disciplines and asked for suggestions to improve the overall sporting culture in the country, including infrastructure, coaching needs and other facilities. In the informal interaction that followed, the coaches and athletes put forward their ideas and spoke of ways to improve the already existing infrastructure.

After a warm-up, the minister tried his hand at javelin throwing, along with other throwers and made an impressive score. He then had breakfast at the JLN hostel along with the athletes. At the breakfast table, he interacted with gymnasts and enquired about their camp that is underway at the Indira Gandhi Stadium. Veteran archer Limba Ram and Olympian hockey player M P Ganesh was also present at the breakfast, and shared many stories of India's performances during their times.

Earlier, Rijiju had said that he aims at creating a sporting culture in the country that will make people appreciate the technicalities of sports other than cricket. "Everyone knows cricket jargon like googly. But generally people are not aware of the technical aspects of most sports. And interest will not be generated unless we go into the technicalities of games," said Rijiju while on a visit to the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium earlier this month.