Kerala girl Tilotama Ikareth carries Olympic torch in France

With a beaming smile Tilotama Ikareth, the Kerala girl who was part of the Olympic torch relay team, carried the flame in the French town of Gennevilliers on Wednesday, just two days ahead of the Games' opening ceremony.
The torch relay, which started in May, is part of celebrations in which about 10,000 people from various walks of life were chosen to carry the flame across France before the Games opening ceremony on July 26.

The 20-year-old, who was born with a partially paralysed right arm and has dyslexia, was also featured on the local TV as the relay passed through the French town.

Tilotama studied till Class 7 at Pallikoodam in Kottayam. Her father Joe Ikareth is a noted fashion designer and hails from Kottayam, while her French mother Murielle is a creative movement therapist.

Tilotama carried the Olympic torch along with 23 other para-taekwondo athletes. "I finished my Class 10 through homeschooling and after the Covid-19 pandemic, we decided to move to France to have new opportunities. I visited INSEP (The National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance in Paris) and tried my hand at para-taekwondo. The coach of the French team had encouraging words for me and I have been pursuing the sport ever since. I aim to make it to the French para-taekwondo team and compete in the 2028 Paralympics (in Los Angeles). I also want to become a physical education teacher," Tilotama had told Onmanorama in an earlier interview.

Joe, who is an alumnus of the National Institute of Fashion Technology, started the Move Ability Clothing line that provides clothing solutions for the differently-abled in 2016. Murielle, who was running an Ayurvedic centre at Kalathipady during her stay in Kottayam, is now the director of a music school in Bellot, which is one hour's drive from Paris.