Tokyo Olympics: PM Modi to meet athletes individually post-return, say Anurag Thakur

The Olympics has commenced and the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Thakur on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be meeting each member of the Indian contingent individually after their return from the Tokyo Olympics. 

PM Modi to meet athletes, Paralympians individually post return from Tokyo

Thakur said, "Following their return from the games, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be meeting the athletes individually. The Prime Minister will meet our Paralympians as well.”  

 

 

Meanwhile, ministers along with the Indian president greeted Indian athletes who are in Tokyo, for their success in the games.

Youth Affairs and Sports Minister conveys good wishes to Indian athletes  

Taking to the media, the Union Minister extended his good wishes to the Indian Olympics contingent. "On behalf of the Government of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and 130 crore Indians, I would like to wish all the Indian athletes the very best. The good wishes are with our athletes, this is our largest contingent where 127 athletes are participating. There is no pressure on them, they should play with a free mind, win more medals. We can see high enthusiasm across the country,” Thakur said.

 

President Ramnath Kovind extends greetings

Meanwhile, President Ramnath Kovind extended his greeting to athletes representing India in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by sharing a post on Twitter.

25 member team takes part in the opening ceremony 

The opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics witnessed a 25-member Indian contingent including six-time world champion Mary Kom and men's hockey captain Manpreet Singh as India's flag bearers while athletes from India made their way at the Parade of Nations during the Opening Ceremony of Tokyo Olympics on Friday.

Ankita Raina had been added to the list of players to attend the event on Friday while Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal from the Table Tennis team did not attend the ceremony, IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta confirmed on Twitter.

The opening ceremony is usually starstudded but not this time. This time it was 1000 people only in attendance, strict social distance riles and calling on the spectators to be quiet around the venue.

This game is a symbol of the World coming together and millions of people around the globe tuning in to watch the opening of the greatest show in sports. Indigo and White are the colours of Tokyo’s Olympic emblem.

Of the 119 athletes, the oldest among them will be the 45-year-old Mairaj Ahmed Khan from Uttar Pradesh. Mairaj Ahmed Khan is a shooter in the shotgun skeet discipline. Apart from Mairaj, there are two more athletes who are in their 40s namely Tejaswini Sawant (Shooting) and Sanjeev Rajput (Shooting). Following Tejaswini Sawant and Sanjeev Rajput, Achanta Sharath (Table Tennis) is of 39-years-old. On the other hand, Divyansh Singh Panwar (Shooting) is the youngest among the 119 at 18, while the contingent has six 19-year-olds, including Saurabh Chaudhary (Shooting) and Manu Bhaker (Airgun shooting).