Mission Olympic Cell sanctions Rs 1.5 crore to top athletes under TOPS

The Mission Olympic Cell sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore for training, competition and equipment needs of several athletes, including Bajrang Punia, Kidambi Srikanth and Neeraj Chopra.

Athletes under TOPS will be given financial assistance for training, competition and equipment, ahead of Tokyo Games.

The Mission Olympic Cell on Monday sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore as financial assistance for training, competition and equipment needs of several athletes, including wrestler Bajrang Punia, shuttler Kidambi Srikanth and javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

The shooter trio of Anjum Moudgil, Divyansh Singh Panwar and Mairaj Ahmad Khan, who have booked Tokyo Games quotas, were also given financial assistance for participation in various international competitions this year under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).

The National Sports Federations of cycling, swimming and judo also presented their long-term plan for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics in the meeting, convened here by the Sports Authority of India.

Long jumper Sreeshankar Murali, Neeraj and triple jumper Arpinder Singh will get the equipment they need for their training, just like archers Ankita Bhakat, Bombalya Devi and Deepika Kumari.

The training and participation requirements of table tennis players Sharat Kamal, Manika Batra, G. Sathiyan, Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar will also be attended to from the amount sanctioned on Monday, the same for tennis players Divij Sharan and Rohan Bopanna.

Badminton players Srikanth, Sameer Verma, H.S. Prannoy and Sai Praneeth’s assistance for participation in various international competitions this year was also cleared while wrestler Punia’s request for financial assistance for international training and competition ahead of the Olympics was also acceded to.

Financial assistance for cyclist Esow, who participated in the Track Cycling Challenge, Switzerland, last month was also approved.

The participation of para-badminton players Pramod Bhagat, Manoj Sarkar, Sukant Kadam, Suhas Yathiraj, Tarun and Krishna Nagar in international events in Brazil and Peru was also approved.

Para-shooter Singhraj’s request for a personal coach and physio until Tokyo Paralympics was also accepted.

The cycling, swimming and judo NSFs made presentations in regard to potential list of international centres where athletes can go for specialised training, identification of promising talent for 2024 and 2028 Olympics, creating programmes for identifying coaches in India, establishing centres of excellence in various regions of the country.