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Double Olympic medallist shooter Manu Bhaker and chess world champion D Gukesh are among the 4 athletes who are selected for the Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award by the Sports Ministry on Thursday. Men’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh and Paralympic gold medalist Praveen Kumar are also going to receive the prestigious honor. The Khel Ratna is India's topmost recognition for athletes.
Moreover, the sports ministry announced the names of 32 athletes, including 17 para-athletes, for the Arjuna Awards. Recently, controversy came out after some media outlets reported that Manu's name was removed from the list of athletes recommended for the Khel Ratna. Manu’s father, Ram Kishan, and coach Jaspal Rana were saddened by the omission. Anyways, Manu Bhaker clarified that there might have been a mistake on her side during the nomination process.
"With regards to ongoing issue for my nomination for the most prestigious Khel Ratna award-I would like to state that as an athlete my role is to play and perform for my country. Awards and recognition keep me motivated but are not my goal. I believe there has been a lapse, maybe on my part while filing for the nomination which is being corrected. Irrespective of the award I shall remain motivated to win medals for my country. It is a request to everyone, please do not speculate on this matter," Manu Bhaker wrote in a post on twitter.
The 22-year-old Bhaker made history as independent India's 1st athlete to win two medals in a single Olympics, with her bronze in the 10m air pistol individual and mixed squad events in August.
In the same Games, Harmanpreet had led the Indian men’s hockey team to their 2nd consecutive bronze medal. The 18-year-old Gukesh, meanwhile, became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion and contributed to India's historic gold at the Chess Olympiad in 2024. The 4th recipient is para high-jumper Praveen, who clinched the T64 title at the Paris Paralympics. The T64 classification is for athletes with one or both legs missing below the knee and who are using prosthetic legs for running.
"The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 17th January, 2025 (Friday) at 1100 hours," the sports ministry stated in a press release.