President Murmu honours National Sports Awards 2024 winners

New Delhi, Jan 17: President Droupadi Murmu conferred the National Sports Awards 2024 in New Delhi at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday.

The Awards included Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Awards-2024, Dronacharya Awards-2024, Arjuna Awards-2024, Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards-2023, Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar-2024, and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy-2024.

The Arjuna Awards were given to 32 sportspersons: Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award to 4, Arjuna Awards (Lifetime) for outstanding performance in Sports and Games to 2, Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games in Regular Category to 3 and in Lifetime Category to 2.

The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar was awarded to the Physical Education Foundation of India for promoting sports.

The Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy was awarded to Chandigarh University, Lovely Professional University, and Guru Nanak Dev University.

Key Highlights of the Ceremony

In the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Awards category, Manu Bhaker was awarded for her exceptional achievements in shooting. D. Gukesh, the youngest World Chess Champion, Harmanpreet Singh, the men’s hockey team captain, and Praveen Kumar for his remarkable achievements in para-athletics.

Para-Athletes

With a representation of 17 para-athletes and remarkable performances in the Paris Paralympics, India won 29 medals. Among the awardees were Jyothi Yarraji – Track and Field (Hurdles), Annu Rani – Javelin Throw, Rakesh Kumar (Para-Athletics) – High Jump (Para-Sports), Preeti Pal (Para-Athletics) – Sprint (Para-Sports), Jeevanji Deepthi (Para-Athletics) – Long Jump (Para-Sports), Ajeet Singh (Para-Athletics) – High Jump (Para-Sports), Sachin Sarjerao Khilari (Para-Athletics) – Sprint (Para-Sports), Dharambir (Para-Athletics) – Sprint (Para-Sports), Pranav Soorma (Para-Athletics) – Sprint (Para-Sports), and H Hokato Sema (Para-Athletics) – Sprint (Para-Sports).

Murlikant Rajaram Petkar, India’s first Paralympic gold medallist in swimming, received the Lifetime Arjuna Award. Sucha Singh too was awarded with the lifetime Arjuna Award.

Pranav Soorma, a wheelchair-bound athlete, was personally received by President Murmu.

Para-Sports

In Para-Sports, Rakesh Kumar (Para-Archery) – Archery (Para-Sports), Nitesh Kumar (Para-Badminton) – Badminton (Para-Sports), Thulasimathi Murugesan (Para-Badminton) – Badminton (Para-Sports), Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan (Para-Badminton) – Badminton (Para-Sports), Manisha Ramadass (Para-Badminton) – Badminton (Para-Sports), Kapil Parmar (Para-Judo) – Judo (Para-Sports), Mona Agarwal (Para-Shooting) – Shooting (Para-Sports), and Rubina Francis (Para-Shooting) – Shooting (Para-Sports) were also awarded with Arjuna Awards.

In boxing, Nitu – Boxing (Women’s Flyweight) and Saweety – Boxing (Women’s Light-Heavyweight) were also awarded with Arjuna Awards.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, while announcing the National Sports Awards 2024, said that the awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organized function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 17th January, 2025 (Friday) at 1100 hours.

Notably, National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.

‘Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award’ is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over the period of the previous four years.

‘Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games’ is given for good performance over a period of the previous four years and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, and a sense of discipline.

The Arjuna Award (Lifetime) is given to honour and motivate those sportspersons who have contributed to sports by their performance and continue to contribute to promotion of sports even after their retirement from active sporting career.

‘Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games’ is given to coaches for doing outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and for enabling sportspersons to excel in international events.

The overall top-performing university in the Khelo India University Games is given the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.

The applications were invited online, and sportspersons/coaches/entities were permitted to self-apply through a dedicated Online Portal. A large number of applications were received for these awards this year, which were considered by the Selection Committee headed by Justice (Retd.) V. Ramasubramanian, Supreme Court of India, and consisting of members from eminent sportspersons, persons having experience in sports journalism, and sports administrators.