Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who created history at the Tokyo Olympics by winning India's first-ever individual gold medal, has been picked for the Khel Ratna award for 2021.
Chopra had, on August 7, become the first Indian in over 100 years to win an Olympic medal in athletics, when he won the gold in men’s javelin throw in Tokyo. He threw a blistering 87.58m in his second attempt to clinch a sensational gold medal in the high-profile event.
An unprecedented 11 athletes have been picked for the prestigious award this year. Tokyo Olympics silver medal-winning wrestler Ravi Dahiya, bronze medallist boxer Lovlina Borgohain, hockey goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh, football legend Sunil Chhetri, veteran cricketer Mithali Raj were also recommended for the Khel Ratna award by the selection committee.
Tokyo Paralympics gold medallists Avani Lekhara and Manish Narwal (shooting), Sumit Antil (javelin), and Pramod Bhagat and Krishna Nagar (badminton), too, made the list.
In fact, the announcement of the national sports awards was delayed in order to consider the performance of the para-athletes in the Tokyo Paralympics (August 24 to September 5).
Last year, Rohit Sharma, Mariyappan Thangavelu, Vinesh Phogat, Manika Batra, Rani Rampal were conferred with the award.
The committee also picked 35 athletes for the Arjuna award, eight more than last year's number of awardees.
Cricketer Shikhar Dhawan, para TT player Bhavina Patel, para shuttler Suhas Yathiraj and high jumper Nishad Kumar are among those selected for the Arjuna award.
Members of the men's hockey team that won a historic bronze in the Olympics will also get the Arjuna award.
(With PTI inputs)
