Rijiju: Elite athletes to get training facility soon

Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Government would allow elite athletes to resume training at the earliest in order to keep them ready for future competitions.

Rijiju expressed confidence that boxing would help the country shine in the Olympics.

Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said the Government would allow elite athletes to resume training at the earliest in order to keep them ready for future competitions.

“We are planning out a way to start functioning as soon as possible. I thought first of all we should allow practice for the athletes who have qualified for the Olympics and who will be participating in the qualifiers or important championships. We can't open all the coaching centres, so we will allow only for elite athletes. Junior camps have to wait for some time as safety will be priority,” said Rijiju during a video conference attended by 140 boxers, coaches and officials.

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Rijiju expressed confidence that boxing would help the country shine in the Olympics.Indian boxers have already secured nine Olympic quota places and will be fighting for four more in upcoming qualifying events.

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The video conference was attended by top boxers, including Mary Kom, Amit Panghal, Pooja Rani, Simranjit Kaur, Lovlina Borgohain, Vikas Krishan, Satish Kumar and Manish Kaushik.

“It's really motivating to interact with you, Sir (Rijiju). If we keep getting support from the Government, we will definitely win Olympic and World Championship medals,” Vikas said.