Sports Minister – Anurag Thakur promises expansion of TOPS

Driven by India’s best award haul in the Tokyo Olympics, the government will expand the size and extent of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) by remembering the 2024 and 2028 Games, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said on Sunday. During a felicitation program coordinated for the victorious Indian competitors, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) granted Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra with a money grant of Rs 75 lakh.

This is the first time IOA is offering cash impetuses to Olympic medallists. The silver medallists – grappler Ravi Dahiya and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu – got Rs 50 lakh each for their heroics in Tokyo. The bronze medallists – screen P V Sindhu, fighter Lovlina Borgohain and grappler Bajrang Punia – got Rs 25 lakh after their fine show at the as of late closed Olympics.

“I assure you we are going to increase TOPS so that more and more athletes can be benefitted,” Anurag Thakur said on the sidelines of the programme. Optimistically, he added, “When such a function is held after the 2024 Olympics, I hope the medallists are so many that there is no space left here.”

Every individual from the bronze-medal winning men’s hockey team got more extravagant by Rs 10 lakh each. The mentor of gold victor Neeraj Chopra will get Rs 12.5 lakh, while mentors of Dahiya and Mirabai Chanu got Rs 10 lakh. The mentor for the bronze victors was given Rs 7.5 lakh. It was likewise declared that Rs 1 lakh will be given to every one of the 128 Tokyo Olympians.

Every one of the medallists were available. Plus, the award winning National Sports Federations (NSFs) were given checks of Rs 30 lakh each. Alongside Thakur and different dignitaries present, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narinder Batra, as well, commended the country’s competitors for their presentation at the show-stopper.

“There was a lot of gloom and despondency in the country due to COVID-19 before the Olympics. But your (athletes) performance in the Tokyo Olympics has changed all that and you have brought a smile to 1.3 billion people of the country,” Narinder Batra said.

“You must have realised what you all have done for the country.” Neeraj Chopra’s coach Klaus Bartonietz and Jaiveer Choudhary, who introduced the athlete to the Shivaji Stadium in Panipat, did not turn up for the event.