PM Modi meets Rio's heroes, lays down blueprint for Olympics glory

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the National Sports awardees, including Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu and bronze winner Sakshi Malik, at his 7 Race Course Road residence here. The PM greeted the athletes on the eve of the National Sports Day. Besides shuttler Sindhu and wrestler Sakshi, ace shooter Jitu Rai and trailblazing gymnast Dipa Karmakar were also in attendance. 

All the four athletes will be conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by President Pranab Mukherjee. Sindhu scripted history by winning the silver in women's singles badminton while Sakshi took the bronze in women's 58kg freestyle category at the Rio Games. 

In a first in Indian sports, Dipa finished fourth in artistic gymnastics at Rio. While Jitu has won over half a dozen medals in the past two years.
"I showed him my medal and he was very happy. He congratulated me and said you did really well and made the country proud. That really made my day. It was a pleasure talking to him and I felt very happy," said Sindhu after meeting the PM.

Talking about her Olympic glory, she said, "It is great feeling to have won an Olympic medal. It was my dream and it has come true. I am very happy. I am thankful to everybody, Gopi sir, my parents. I am really thankful to the Government as they have been very supportive and also to the sponsors." When asked what did the Prime Minister tell her, Sakshi, who burst into the limelight with her bronze medal in Rio, said, "Prime Minister said to me 'maarna mat mujhe' (I hope you won't hit me) and I told him that we wrestlers are very aggressive on the mat but off it, we are very soft hearted." Asked if the feeling of winning an Olympic medal has sunk in, Sakshi said: "I couldn't believe it when I was in Rio. But now it has started to sink in. I am getting a lot of love and everyone has made me feel very special." The 23-year-old Sakshi, who was sporting a 'Rio 2016' pendent, said it was gifted to her by Gopichand's sister in Hyderabad earlier in the day.

Sports Minister Vijay Goel, who was also present on the occasion, said, "All the Khel Ratna awardees, Arjuna awardees, Dhayanchand awardees, Dronacharya awardees, Tenzing Norgay awardees met the Prime Minister today and it also included the two medallists from the Rio Olympics -- PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik." 

PM Modi’s blueprint to tackle sporting failure

After deciding to form a Task Force to prepare for the next three Olympics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked states to set up similar panels as "lot more" needs to be done to improve India's performance in sports.
During his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat', he hailed the girl power as he referred to Rio medal winners -- shuttler P V Sindhu and wrestler Sakshi. He also hailed gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who missed a medal by a narrow margin.

He lauded P Gopichand, ace badminton player and Sindhu's coach, describing him as an example of a fine teacher.

"It cannot be denied that our performance (in Rio) was not up to the expectation," Modi said while mentioning about thousands of messages to him from people who wanted him to speak on the subject of sports in view of poor performance in Rio Olympics as they were badly disappointed.

"In some cases, Indian players could not even perform to the level they do in games at home and in the medals tally, we had only two," he added.

At the same time, he said Indian participants in some events like hockey, shooting and boxing performed well, even better than the past.

"But my countrymen, we need to do a lot more. If we continue doing what we have been doing, then perhaps we will again be disappointed," he said.

In this context, he referred to his recent announcement to form a Task Force under which the government will "go deep" into the subject, study the best practices in the world and prepare a roadmap for the next three Olympic Games in 2020, 2024 and 2028. "We have to formulate a long-term programme," he said.

The Prime Minister asked state governments also to form such committees to see what could be done to improve performances in sports. He said states can also send their suggestions to the Centre in this regard.

He said associations linked to sports should also do brain-storming in an unbiased manner.

Modi invited even individual citizens, with interest in sports, to write to him or the government.

"We should do all preparations and I am confident that the country of 125 crore people, 65 per cent of them youth, will move ahead with this resolve," he said.