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MANN KI BAAT: PM praises UP’s Tokyo-bound athletes
Athletes from Uttar Pradesh (UP) to be part of contingent for Tokyo Olympics, especially race walker Priyanka Goswami and ace javelin thrower Shivpal Singh, found mention from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who in his Sunday’s radio show ‘Mann ki Baat’ praised their grit and determination and urged the country to boost their confidence
Athletes from Uttar Pradesh (UP) to be part of contingent for Tokyo Olympics, especially race walker Priyanka Goswami and ace javelin thrower Shivpal Singh, found mention from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who in his Sunday’s radio show ‘Mann ki Baat’ praised their grit and determination and urged the country to boost their confidence.
The Tokyo Olympics will be held from July 23 to August 8.
While referring to athletes set to be part of the Indian contingent to the Olympic event, the PM picked life stories of Goswami and Singh for special mention, lauding their determination and perseverance.
Goswami, who would be competing in the 20km race walk event, comes from a humble background. Her father works as a bus conductor. She qualified for the Olympics during the national championship this February at Ranchi where she also broke the national record.
“As a child, Priyanka adored the bag that the medal winners were presented with. It was this fascination that made her participate in the race-walking competition for the first time. Now, she is a big champion,” Modi said in his talk show.
Highlighting the consistent efforts of Singh, who hails from Varanasi, the PM said Shivpal’s entire family has been associated with this game. His father, uncle and brother are all proficient in javelin throw.
“His commitment and an emotional attachment for the sport, as it is a part of his family tradition, made him qualify for the mega event,” the PM added.
Urging people to encourage the athletes, the PM also said that all the athletes have endured “years of toil” and the country should back them without putting them under pressure for the Tokyo Olympics. PM also mentioned Praveen Jadhav, and archer Dipika Kumari. Deepika’s father is an auto rickshaw driver. “We wish all our champions well.”
“Chirag Shetty and Sattwik have qualified. Shuttler Sattwik suffered from COVID, and Chirag lost his grandfather to the pandemic, but they have persevered,” he said.
He also mentioned about the humble beginnings of defender Bhavani from Tamil Nadu. “When we speak of Olympics, who can forget the legendary Milkha Singh,” the PM said remembering the legendary athlete who succumbed to COVID-19 recently.
“We lost him a few days ago. But I had the fortune of speaking to him before he passed away, when I told him that he had led the Indian contingent in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and he should encourage the current Indian contingent, he agreed. Unfortunately, we lost him before that, the PM said.
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that the state drew inspiration from the PM’s encouragement and support to the sports fraternity and adopted a similar approach to promote and foster the sports culture by supporting the talented sportspersons in the state.
“The talented players of our state were deprived of adequate resources since long. However, our government is leaving no stone unturned to provide all necessary assets to the sportspersons in order to help them shine nationally and internationally,” the CM said.
