The nation’s highest sporting award, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards have been announced and this year is the first time it has been conferred on four athletes. A day after the Olympics concluded at Rio, the Govt. granted the awards to the country’s first woman Silver medalist PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik who won bronze in women’s wrestling, Dipa Karmakar, who missed the medal by a whisker and shooter Jitu Rai.
Dipa Karmakar’s coach, Bishweshwar Nandi, has been selected for the Dronacharya Award, alongwith Nagapuri Ramesh (athletics), Sagar Mal Dhayal (boxing), Raj Kumar Sharma (cricket), S. Pradeep Kumar (swimming) and Mahabir Singh (wrestling).
Apart from a medal and a citation, a Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee will receive a cash prize of Rs.7.5 lakh. The Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand awardees will receive statuettes, certificates and cash prize of Rs.5 lakh each, said a press release from the Sports Ministry.
The awards will be distributed by President Pranab Mukherjee on August 29.
Here is the list of all the awards and awardees
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 2016
PV Sindhu – Badminton
Dipa Karmakar – Gymnastics
Jitu Rai – Shooting
Sakshi Malik -Wrestling
Dronacharya Awards 2016
Nagapuri Ramesh – Athletics
Sagar Mal Dhayal – Boxing
Raj Kumar Sharma -Cricket
Bishweshwar Nandi – Gymnastics
S. Pradeep Kumar – Swimming (Lifetime)
Mahabir Singh – Wrestling (Lifetime)
Arjuna Awards 2016
Shri Rajat Chauhan – Archery
Lalita Babar – Athletics
Shri Sourav Kothari -Billiards & Snooker
Shiva Thapa – Boxing
Ajinkya Rahane – Cricket
Subrata Paul – Football
Rani – Hockey
Raghunath V.R. – Hockey
Gurpreet Singh – Shooting
Apurvi Chandela – Shooting
Soumyajit Ghosh – Table Tennis
Vinesh Phogat – Wrestling
Amit Kumar – Wrestling
Sandeep Singh Mann – Para-Athletics
Virender Singh – Wrestling (Deaf)
Dhyan Chand Award 2015
Ms. Satti Geetha – Athletics
Shri Sylvanus Dung Dung – Hockey
Shri Rajendra Pralhad Shelke – Rowing
