Another feather in Neeraj Chopra's illustrious career as the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist will be conferred with the Padma Shri award this year. The javelin thrower was among the eight sportspersons named for the Padma Shri award.


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Meanwhile, star para-athlete Devendra Jhajharia was named for the prestigious Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour in the country. The 40-year-old has two gold medals in the javelin competition of Paralympic Games, 2004 Athens, and more recently in Rio 2016. He also won a silver in the F46 event at the Tokyo Paralympics last year.


The Home Ministry on Tuesday (January 25) announced the list of recipients of the Padma awards - one of the highest civilian awards of the country. Total 128 people have been honoured this year with the Awards that are conferred in three categories - Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri.


"This year the President has approved conferment of 128 Padma Awards including 2 duo case (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one)," the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.


"The list comprises 4 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri Awards. 34 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 Posthumous awardees," the MHA added.


The awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year.



Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal for India in the Javelin Throw event at the Tokyo Olympics. The Haryana lad is only the second Indian individual after Abhinav Bindra to win Olympic gold.


Neeraj not only created history when he clinched a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics but also fulfilled legendary athlete Milkha Singh's wish to see India bringing the biggest laurel back at the mega event in track and field event.


Interestingly, Neeraj is also the first Indian to win the javelin throw at the Commonwealth games as he landed an 86.47m throw to clinch gold at the 2018 CWG in Gold Coast, Australia.


The star athlete was also conferred with Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award in November last year for his outstanding achievements.


Meanwhile, the other Padma Shri awardees include 20-year-old para shooter Avani Lekhara, para-badminton player Pramod Bhagat and para javelin thrower Sumit Antil.


Also getting the honour was 93-year-old Kalaripayattu (indigenous martial art form) legend Sankaranarayana Menon Chundayil, former international martial arts champion Faisal Ali Dar, 67-year-old former Indian football team captain Brahmanand Sankhwalkar and 29-year-old women's hockey player Vandana Kataria.


The Padma Awards are given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher-order) and Padma Shri (distinguished service).


The award seeks to recognise achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved.