Modi personally wishes good luck to India’s contingent for Rio Olympics

PM Narendra Modi has met the contingent of Indian athletes who will be taking part in the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to wish them luck.

A function was held at the Manekshaw Centre, where Modi individually met all the sportspersons, while wishing them good luck for the games which would be held from August 5^th to 21^st.

Other dignitaries who attended the function were Sports Minister Jitendra Singh, Sports Secretary Rajiv Yadav, All India Council of Sports (AICS) Chairman Vijay Malhotra, Indian Olympic Association President N Ramachandran, Secretary General Rajeev Mehta, Hockey India President Narinder Batra, and HI Secretary General Mohammed Mushtaq Ahmed.

This year, India’s contingent being sent to the Olympics is the largest ever, with more than 100 athletes having already qualified in 13 sporting disciplines. Last time, in 2012 London Olympics, the count was 83, while this year the count can go up to 110.

Shooters Jitu Rai, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, and Heena Sidhu, shuttlers PV Sindhu and K Srikanth, boxer Shiva Thapa, long distance runners Sudha Singh and Lalita Babar were among the athletes that attended the function, along with the Indian women's hockey team. Along with the players, chief coach Neil Hawgood and coach C R Kumar (Hockey), Pullela Gopichand (Badminton) and Gurbax Singh Sandhu (Boxing) were also there.

However, the function missed the presence of several Rio-qualified athletes who are currently training abroad.

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