Manu Bhaker, D Gukesh, Harmanpreet Singh, Praveen Kumar have been nominated to receive Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) confirmed on Thursday. While Bhaker is a double medallist at the Paris Olympics, Gukesh became the youngest world chess champion at 18 last month. Harmanpreet Singh led Indian men’s hockey team to their second-consecutive bronze medal at the Paris Olympics 2024, while Praveen grabbed men’s high jump gold at the Paralympics with a record-breaking jump of 2.08 meters.
The sports ministry also named 32 athletes, including 17 para-athletes, for Arjuna Awards. All the awardees will be receiving their respective awards from the President of India at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 17 (Friday) at 11 AM.
With two bronze medals (10m air pistol, & 10m air pistol mixed team), the 22-year-old Bhaker became the first Indian to win two medals at a single Olympics post-independence. She also became the first Indian woman shooter to win an Olympic medal.
Her mixed team partner Sarabjot Singh is among the nominated for Arjuna awards. The announcement comes in after TOI reported that Bhaker isn’t among the nominated for Khel Ratna. While sports ministry said that they didn’t recieve Bhaker’s application, the shooter’s family responded that an application was indeed made.
