Rajnath Singh felicitates Neeraj Chopra, renames Pune's ASI stadium after Olympic gold medalist

Rajnath Singh also re-named the ASI Stadium after Neeraj Chopra, who bagged the country's first gold in athletics at the marquee event and also became the only second individual gold medalist for India after shooter Abhinav Bindra.

Rajnath Singh felicitates Neeraj Chopra, renames Pune's ASI stadium after Olympic gold medalist (Twitter/rajnathsingh)

Pune: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday felicitated Defence Forces personnel who took part in the Tokyo Olympics, including Olympic gold medal winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, at the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune. Rajnath also re-named the ASI Stadium after Chopra, who bagged the country's first gold in athletics at the marquee event and also became the only second individual gold medalist for India after shooter Abhinav Bindra.

Chopra was also present on the occasion. A shawl, which was signed by the Olympians, was also presented to the Defence Minister.

Among those, who were felicitated were Tarundeep Rai (Archery), Pravin Jadhav (Archery), Amit (Boxing), Manish Kaushik (Boxing), Satish Kumar (Boxing), CA Kuttappa (Boxing coach), Chotelal Yadav (Boxing coach), Deepak Punia (Wrestling), Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh (Rowing), Vishnu Saravanan (Sailing) and Chopra. 

Delighted to facilitate all the Armed Forces personnel who participated in the Tokyo Olympics. My good wishes to them for a successful career ahead. pic.twitter.com/QWXepVayyn — Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) August 27, 2021

Neeraj was presented with a replica of javelin. 

Felicitated Subedar Neeraj Chopra at the Army Sports Institute in Pune today for his amazing performance at Tokyo Olympics. He made the country proud by winning the Olympics Gold Medal. Now, the ASI has renamed the Stadium after him. Wishing him success in his future endeavours. pic.twitter.com/N9fbL8vOqN — Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) August 27, 2021

Rajnath asserted that his government would do everything to promote sports. "To promote sports, we will do whatever is needed and we are committed to that. And every player of the country knows about it. Our Prime Minister is encouraging all the Games and the players," Rajnath told reporters.

"The government will give encouragement to each and every individual from the sports community and the state governments are also making good contributions in facilitating players," he added.

"I am waiting for that moment, when India will get an opportunity to host the Olympic Games," said Rajnath while addressing the gathering.

Army Chief General MM Naravane was present on the occasion.