On Monday, the Sports Ministry physically handed over trophies to all national sports awards winners of last year. The winners were rewarded during a function at Delhi’s Ashoka Hotel.
All the champions of the National Sports Awards 2020 had previously received cash awards. But, they could not collect their trophies and citation throughout last year’s event. It was because the Sports Awards ceremony was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On August 29th 2020, The Sports Ministry handed over 74 National Sports Awards, including five Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratnas and 27 Arjuna Awards.
The distinguished awardees who attended Monday’s ceremony at a city hotel were women’s hockey captain Rani Rampal, wrestler Vinesh Phogat and 2016 Paralympics gold winner Thangavelu Mariyappan. They were handed the prestigious Khel Ratna.
Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist boxer Lovlina Borgohain, Ishant Sharma, sprinter Dutee Chand, archer Atanu Das and shuttlers Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Chandrasekhar Shetty were among others who received their Arjuna trophies.
“The National Sports Awards is a prestigious award that is won by athletes after years of dedication and hard work. Congratulations to all the awardees and the very best for their future events. The journey of the awardees doesn’t end here, there is more to be achieved,” Union Minister for I&B and Youth Affairs & Sports Anurag Thakur stated during the function.
“We must also continue to look for talented athletes, groom them and make them capable of winning medals at the international level. So I request all the athletes to take the pledge of at least grooming and training five such athletes who can win medals for India in the future.”
Sports Secretary Sujata Chaturvedi, Youth Affairs Secretary Usha Sharma, and additional top ministry and SAI officials further graced the event.
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