India's Tokyo Olympics-bound athletes to interact with PM Modi at 5 pm on July 13

Ahead of the athletes' scheduled flight to Japan on July 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the athletes on Tuesday, July 13 at 5 pm. Modi took to Twitter to announce this interaction. The interaction of the Indian contingent with PM Modi will reportedly be organized via video conferencing with Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, MoS Nisith Pramanik and Law Minister Kiren Rijiju also expected to be present in the meeting.

PM Modi stated, "At 5 PM this evening, I look forward to interacting with our athletes who would be representing India at @Tokyo2020. Each of them has an inspiring life journey and I am sure what they would share would interest you all. Do watch the interaction. #Cheer4India".

PM Modi's words of encouragement to the athletes

On June 27, PM Modi had addressed and encouraged athletes for the upcoming Olympic matches in his Mann ki Baat radio program. 

He had said, "When talent, devotion, determination, and sportsmanship come together, champions are born. Many athletes in our country come from small towns and cities to compete at the highest level for India. Many such inspirational stories can be found among the athletes who will compete in the forthcoming Olympics in Tokyo. Athletes on their way to Tokyo have had their ups and downs, as well as years of hard work. They are not only travelling for themselves, but also for the sake of their country. The athletes must represent India well and win the hearts of the people. I don't want to put any pressure on them, so I'm asking all of my countrymen to rally behind each and every athlete".

India's Athletics team to fly to Tokyo

Men: Avinash Sable (3000m Steeplechase); MP Jabir (400m Hurdles): M Sreeshankar (Long Jump); Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Shot Put); Neeraj Chopra and Shivpal Singh (Javelin Throw); KT Irfan, Sandeep Kumar and Rahul Rohilla (20km Walk) and Gurpreet Singh (50km Walk); 4x400m Relay: Amoj Jacob, Arokia Rajiv, Muhammed Anas, Naganathan Pandi, Noah Nirmal Tom; 4x400m Mixed Relay: Sarthak Bhambri, Alex Antony.

Women: Dutee Chand (100m and 200m); Kamalpreet Kaur and Seema Antil-Punia (Discus Throw) and Annu Rani (Javelin Throw); Bhawna Jat and Priyanka Goswami (20km Walk) and (Mixed 4x400m Relay): Revathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan & Dhanlakshmi Sekhar.

About 11,000 Olympic athletes are to enter Tokyo along with tens of thousands of support staff, judges, officials, media, and broadcasters. The Paralympics involve 4,400 athletes and open on Aug. 24.

(Image credit: AP/PTI)