On the occasion of National Sports day, President Draupadi Murmu presented the Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award to the star players on Friday, January 17, 2025 at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in Delhi. The sportspersons received a warming reception by the attendees during the award ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan today. This year’s Khel Ratna was awarded to four athletes, while 32 athletes received Arjuna award.
Double Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker and World Chess Champions were star attractions as they received the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The Indian Men’s Hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and Praveen Kumar who secured gold at the Paris Paralympics were also conferred with the Khel Ratna by the President.
Manu Bhaker clinched two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics 2024, scripting history by becoming the first athlete in Independent India to win more than one individual medal in an edition of the games. She overcame the setback of her disappointing performance of the previous Olympics in Tokyo and could deliver a historic one achieving the glorious feat.
D Gukesh became the youngest prodigy to win the World Chess Championship. The 19-year old, who hails from Chennai defeated Ding Liren at the World championship final in Singapore last year in December. Gukesh is the only Indian to win the World Championship after Vishwananthan Anand.
The second highest sporting honor of the country, Arjuna Award was received by 32 athletes. Notably, the para-athletes won big, both at the Paralympics as well as at the National awards. They surpassed the able bodied sportspersons this year. At the Paris Paralympics, India finished at 18th spot winning 29 medals with seven gold. And at the National sports honors, there were 17 para-athletes who won the Arjuna Award.
Among the Arjuna awardees were the Olympic medalists Sarabjot Singh and Swapnil Kusale. Earlier, Manu Bhaker was not nominated in the preliminary list released for the Khel Ratna award. This drew controversies before the ceremony on National Sports Day. The coach Jaspal Rana and father of Manu Bhaker, Ram Kishan Bhaker showed disappointment and even criticized the sports authorities for not nominating the shooter even after her big Olympic feat.
Apart from these two awards, the Dronacharya Award, Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad trophy were also awarded at the ceremony. In her opening address the President Draupadi Murmu said that the awards were not just accolades but celebrations of hard work that inspire millions across our nation.