Tokyo Olympics 2020: Railways announce incentives for athletes and their coaches

The Railways have joined the list of the various other government bodies that are offering incentives to our athletes at the Tokyo Olympics when they announced a host of increments and special cash awards over and above the existing policy. Athletes who win gold medals will receive ₹3 crore, those that win silver medals will receive ₹2 crore and those who bag bronze will receive ₹1 crore, the ministry announced.

On the other side, those that finish up to the 8th position will receive ₹35 lakh, those who participated in the Tokyo Games will receive ₹7.5 lakh, the coach of a gold medalist is set to receive ₹25 lakh, the coach of a silver medalist will receive ₹20 lakh, the coach of a bronze medalist will receive ₹15 lakh and the coaches of athletes who participated in the Tokyo Olympics will receive ₹7.5 lakh.

A statement by the Ministry of Railways said, "This liberalized promotion policy will act as an incentive to the country's elite sportspersons/coaches and reaffirms the Railways' commitment to the promotion of sports in the country."

Rewards offered by various state governments and other bodies

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced that all athletes from the state who will win a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics will be rewarded with a cash prize of ₹6 crore. The UP government will also reward athletes winning a silver and bronze medal with ₹4 crore and ₹2 crore respectively. For sportspersons participating in team events, each player will be rewarded with ₹3 crore for winning the gold medal, while silver and bronze medallists will be rewarded with ₹2 and ₹1 crore each. Apart from this, each athlete participating from UP in the Tokyo Olympics will be rewarded with ₹10 lakh each. This reward is independent of their performance at the games.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Saturday, July 24, had also announced cash rewards for coaches who are currently with their athletes and training them at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics 2020. The coaches who help their respective athletes win a gold medal will be awarded ₹12.5 lakh while the ones that help their athletes achieve a silver medal with be awarded ₹10 lakh and the coaches that help the athletes win a bronze medal will be awarded ₹7.5 lakh.

In a statement made by the IOA secretary-general, Rajeev Mehta told ANI that the coaches with the athletes will be given cash rewards, saying, "Coaches who are here with athletes and have trained them will be given cash rewards, it will be a huge morale booster for them. Vijay Sharma, Mirabai Chanu's coach will get ₹10 lakh."

Ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin had announced ₹3 crore for those who win a gold medal, ₹2 crore for silver medal winners, and ₹1 crore for a bronze medalst as well.

The Indian contingent at the Tokyo Olympics

The 6-time world champion boxer MC Mary Kom and men's hockey team captain, Manpreet Singh, led the Indian contingent out at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony. 

So far India has earned one medal, a silver that came in women's 49kg weightlifting, thanks to some brilliant efforts by Mirabai Chanu.

A total of 127 athletes across 18 sports disciplines from India are participating in the Tokyo Olympics. This is the biggest-ever contingent India is sending to any Olympics. The 69 cumulative events across the 18 sport disciplines that India will participate in are also the highest number ever for the country.

(Image Credits: @SAI_Media - Twitter)