'Great Morale Boost': Olympic-bound Athletes Thank PM Modi for Motivation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with 15 of the 126 Indian athletes, who are all set to represent the country at the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled for July 23 to August 8 on Tuesday. The athletes were extremely elated to have spoken to with the Prime Minister and thanked him for his words of encouragement and motivation ahead of the mega-event. During the interaction, Indian athletes shared their stories of struggle, sacrifices and positivity while Modi urged them to not get pressurised by the expectations of billions and focus only on putting their best foot forward.

The PM interacted with archers Deepika Kumari and Pravin Jadhav, javelin star Neeraj Chopra, athlete Dutee Chand, boxers Ashish Kumar and Mary Kom, Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu, shooting’s young stars in Elavenil Valarivan and Saurabh Chaudhary, table tennis stars Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, swimmer Sajan Prakash, Indian men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh and tennis ace Sania Mirza.

Following the interaction, many athletes expressed their happiness and “pleasure” over the interaction with the PM and said they would do their best in the upcoming Games.

Table tennis veteran Sharath Kamal said it “was indeed a pleasure” to have interacted with the Prime Minister and that it will be a “great morale boost” for all the athletes as they prepare for the Games.

“It was indeed a pleasure to have Hon. PM @narendramodi ji interact with us and motivate us as we ready ourselves for the Olympics. A great morale boost for all of us athletes. We’ll give our best to bring glory to the nation! #Cheer4India @ianuragthakur @IndiaSports @Media_SAI,” he tweeted.

Sprinter Dutee Chand also said she was grateful for the interaction to Modi and that it would inspire the athletes to give their best in the Olympics. “I feel very proud and motivated to perform well at the Tokyo Olympics. I felt very happy to speak with PM Modi. I would request everyone to give us blessings so we can win medals in the Tokyo Olympics and make the country proud,” she said after the interaction.

Boxer Ashish Kumar called his interaction with PM Modi a “proud moment” and thanked him for boosting the morale of all the athletes. “Proud moment! It was amazing to interact with Sh. @narendramodi ji, Sh @ianuragthakur, Sh @KirenRijiju ji and all other respected officials,” he tweeted.

After the interaction, Indian men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh said, “It was fantastic to interact with PM Modi ahead of Tokyo Olympics. He always encourages us to perform to the best of our abilities & his motivational words have inspired us before the biggest competition of our lives. I’d like to thank our countrymen for their unstinted support. We’ll keep Indian Flag & aspirations of 1.3 bn countrymen in mind when we step onto the field in Tokyo. I’d also like to wish all Indian athletes very best for Tokyo Games.”

Young shooter Elavenil Valarivan said it was an honour to have spoken with the PM and called it “very encouraging and motivating”. “I thank him for an interaction with the athletes and I’m privileged to be a part of it. I wish all the athletes good luck for the games,” she said.

Olympic medal hope PV Sindhu said after the interaction, “It was an honour & absolute pleasure speaking to PM Modi with the rest of the Indian contingent. I’d like to thank him & entire nation for continuous support & we hope to make you proud at Olympics.”

Shooter Sanjeev Rajput thanked PM Modi was the interaction and his “words of motivation”.

A total of 126 athletes across 18 sports disciplines from India will be heading to Tokyo. This is the biggest-ever contingent India is sending to any Olympics. The 69 cumulative events across these disciplines that India will participate in, is also the highest ever for the country.

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