Tokyo Olympics: PM Modi highlights struggle of India's athletes in Mann Ki Baat address
Premium- The PM shared the stories of some of the Olympic-bound athletes
- He stated that people can send their best wishes to the athletes on social media
Stating that all Indian athletes heading to the Tokyo Olympics have worked hard for long, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the nation to come forward and support them.
"Every athlete who will be going to Tokyo Olympics has had to struggle, they have worked hard for a long time. They are just not going to the Games for themselves, but they are heading to Tokyo to make the country proud," said the PM during his monthly radio programme "Mann Ki Baat".
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"They have to win over people's hearts and they need to make everyone in the nation feel proud. I want to urge the citizens of our country to not increase pressure on our athletes, rather you need to motivate them," he added.
Sharing their struggles and triumphs, PM Modi said that all our sportspersons can be seen as inspirations.
"When talent, dedication, determination and sportsman spirit come together, then you get a champion. In our country, athletes come out of small towns, villages, and districts," he said.
He also shared the stories of some of the Olympic-bound athletes.
"Pravin Jadhav of Satara district in Maharastra is an outstanding archer. His parents work as labourers and now Jadhav is going to participate in his first Olympics in Tokyo," said Modi.
"Neha Goyal is a member of India's Women's Hockey team. Her mother and sisters work at cycle manufacturing to run the family. Dipika Kumari's journey has also been full of ups and downs. Dipika is the only woman archer to represent India at Tokyo Olympics," he added.
The PM stated that people can send their best wishes to the athletes on social media.
"You can send good wishes to our athletes by posting messages on social media using the hashtag #Cheer4India. If you want to do something more innovative, then you can do that also. If you get an idea of how we can motivate our athletes together as a country, then you send that to me as well. We will together support our Olympic-bound contingent," he said.
He also paid tributes and remembered the contribution of Indian sprint legend Milkha Singh, who died earlier this month.
Modi hailed Singh's contribution to Indian sports and said he will always cherish his interactions with the athlete.
"When talking about the Olympics, how can we not remember Milkha Singh Ji. When he was hospitalised, I got a chance to speak to him, I had requested him to motivate the athletes going for Tokyo Olympics," said PM Modi.
Singh died in a Chandigarh hospital after a month-long battle with Covid-19. He also lost his wife Nirmal Kaur, a former national volleyball captain, to the same disease.
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