NEW DELHI: Neeraj Chopra, Commonwealth Games (CWG 2018) Gold medalist in javelin, has been recommended for the Khel Ratna Award by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
The national record holder has also been nominated for the Arjuna Award, PTI reports.
Chopra is the fifth Indian athlete in the history of the CWG to have won a track and field Gold medal, after throwing 86.47m. He had earlier won Gold at the World Youth Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland with a throw of 86.48m, still a world record in the youth category. He also won Gold at the 2017 Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar.
Besides Chopra, Annu Rani (javelin) and seasoned discus thrower Seema Antil Puni ahave also been recommended for the Arjuna Award.
“Seema (Punia) deserves an Arjuna Award. She is one of the greatest and most consistent athletes India has produced. Her four-consecutive Gold medals at Commonwealth Games prove that,” Bahadur Singh, chairman of the Arjuna Award recommendation committee of AFI, was quoted as saying by PTI.
Seema’s biggest achievement was never finishing out of the podium at the Commonwealth Games, winning a Bronze and three Silvers, the last of which came at the 2018 Games at Gold Coast.
Apart from winning Gold at the last Asian Games at Incheon in 2014, Seema has also competed in three Olympics.
