Yogi to honour U.P’s Paris heroes today

Praveen Kumar, Suhas LY, Ajeet Singh, Preeti Pal, Simran, Lalit Upadhyay and Raj Kumar Pal are among the medallists who will be honoured

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath will felicitate 14 Olympians and Paralympians who brought glory to the nation and the state in Paris recently, and distribute a total prize pool of ₹22.70 crore at a ceremony to be held at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan here on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath interacts with people during Janta Darshan programme, at Gorakhnath Temple Campus in Gorakhpur on Sunday. (Yogi Adityanath-X/ANI)

Those who will be honoured include seven medal-winners, along with seven athletes from the state who participated in the global sporting arena.

Those who will be honoured are Paralympians Praveen Kumar, Suhas LY, Ajeet Singh, Preeti Pal, Simran and hockey Olympians Lalit Upadhyay and Raj Kumar Pal.

Praveen Kumar, who bagged gold at the Paris Paralympics in the men’s high jump, will receive ₹6 crore.

Suhas LY and Ajeet Singh, silver medallists in badminton and javelin throw respectively at the Paris Paralympics, will each be awarded ₹4 crore.

Preeti Pal, who earned two bronze medals in athletics, will receive ₹4 crore. Simran, another bronze medallist in athletics, will be given ₹1 crore.

Lalit Upadhyay and Raj Kumar Pal, members of the Indian hockey team that won bronze at the Paris Olympics, will also receive ₹1 crore each.

Additionally, Parul Chaudhary, Annu Rani, Priyanka Goswami, Prachi Chaudhary, Sakshi Kasana, Dipesh Kumar, and Yash Kumar, who represented Uttar Pradesh at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, will each be awarded ₹10 lakh for their contributions.

The chief minister will also interact with the athletes, who will share their inspirational stories to motivate and encourage future generations.