India's Rio Olympics stars PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar and Jitu Rai (pictured above with Prime Minister Narendra Modi) received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on Monday. President Pranab Mukherjee gave the awards to the athletes at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Khel Ratna is India's highest sporting honour.
Shuttler Sindhu was the first Indian woman to win a silver medal in the Olympics, while Sakshi Malik brought home the bronze in the women’s wrestling 58 kg category. Gymnast Karmakar came an impressive fourth in the women’s vault final, missing out on the bronze by 0.15 points, while shooter Rai also reached the final in the men's 10-metre air pistol event. Fifteen other athletes, including cricketer Ajinkya Rahane and long-distance runner Lalita Babar, received the Arjuna Award, the country's second-highest sporting honour, from the President as well.
Mukherjee also gave the Dronacharya Award to the following coaches: Nagapuri Ramesh (athletics), Sagar Mal Dhayal (boxing), Raj Kumar Sharma (cricket), Bisweshwar Nandi (gymnastics), S Pradeep Kumar (swimming, lifetime), and Mahabir Singh (wrestling, lifetime).
