Ahead of Tokyo Olympics which starts on July 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the Indian athletes’ contingent on Tuesday via video conferencing.
The interaction by the Prime Minister on July 13 is an endeavour to motivate the athletes before they leave for Tokyo Olympics which is being conducted under the restrictive Covid-19 conditions.
Modi had recently reviewed the preparations for facilitation of India’s contingent at Tokyo-2020.
Prime Minister had also discussed the inspirational journeys of some of the athletes on Mann Ki Baat, besides urging the nation to come forward and wholeheartedly support them.
The event will be attended by the new sports Minister Anurag Thakur, the Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports Nisith Pramanik, and the law minister Kiren Rijiju who had previously held the Sports Ministry.
A total of 126 athletes across 18 sports disciplines from India will be heading to Tokyo.
This is the biggest-ever contingent India is sending to any Olympics.
The 69 cumulative events across the 18 sport disciplines that India will participate in is also the highest ever for the country.
There are several notable firsts in terms of participation. For the first time in its history, a Fencer from India (Bhavani Devi) has qualified for the Olympic Games.
Nethra Kumanan is the first ever female Sailor from India to qualify for an Olympic Games. Sajan Prakash and Srihari Nataraj are the first Swimmers from India to qualify for an Olympic Games by achieving the ‘A’ Qualification Standard in Swimming.