President Ram Nath Kovind lauds athletes for Olympic feat

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday lauded Indian Olympic and Paralympic medallists for their performance at the Tokyo Olympics.

Addressing the joint sitting of Parliament, the President said: "We have all witnessed the potential of India's youth power during the Tokyo Olympics. In its best performance ever in this international competition, India won seven medals. In the Tokyo Paralympics too, Indian para-athletes set a record by winning 19 medals."

In Tokyo 2020, India won 19 medals, finishing 24th in the overall medal tally among 162 nations. It ranked 20th on the basis of total medals won.

India had won only 12 medals until 2016 since making its Paralympic Games debut in 1968.

"In order to improve India's performance in the Olympics and sports, the Central government along with the state governments is setting up hundreds of Khelo India Centres in the country," the President added.

"The government has also established Centres for Disability Sports in Gwalior with modern facilities to provide training to Divyang youth in para sports." (UNI)