Narendra Modi meets Rio Olympics-bound Indian athletes, wishes them ahead of the games next month
The prime minister interacted with them at an event also attended by the sports minister, several team coaches and sports dignitaries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met and wished the Indian contingent to Olympic Games. The Prime Minister interacted with the athletes during a function at Manekshaw Centre in Delhi, reported PTI.
After addressing them, Modi interacted with several sports people including shuttlers PV Sindhu, K Srikanth, shooters Jitu Rai, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Heena Sidhu, long distance runners Sudha Singh and Lalita Babar and boxer Shiva Thapa. Most of the athletes slated to contest in Rio were present, except for some who are training for their events abroad.
Apart from the athletes, others including Sports Minister Jitendra Singh, All India Council of Sports Chairman Vijay Malhotra, Sports Secretary Rajiv Yadav, Indian Olympic Association President N Ramachandran, Hockey India President Narinder Batra, several team coaches attended the event.
The Olympics will begin on August 5 and continue till August 21. So far, 100 athletes from India have qualified across 13 sporting disciplines, and the number is expected to increase. This is the biggest contingent from India to ever participate in the Olympics. In the previous Olympic Games in London in 2012, 83 athletes represented India.