Tokyo Paralympics 2021: Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday felicitated Paralympic medalists, including javelin throwers Devendra Jhajharia and Sumit Antil, and said that he is hopeful that the sport will become as popular as cricket in the times to come.
After Neeraj Chopra’s historic gold medal in javelin throw at the Tokyo Olympics, Antil, Jhajharia and Sunder Singh Gurjar won medals in javelin throw at the Paralympics. Tokyo Paralympics 2021
Last, playing Paralympic for the first time, broke his own world record several times to win the gold medal in the F64 category. In F46, Jhajharia won silver and Gurjar won bronze.
“Hopefully now the javelin will also become famous like a cricket bat,” Thakur, former BCCI president, said during the felicitation ceremony.
Thakur said, “India won four medals on National Sports Day and there cannot be a bigger tribute to Major Dhyan Chand ji. The players have worked hard and the government has extended full support to the players and the national sports federations. The encouragement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji was a source of inspiration for him.”
“The government will change the structure of sports in the country through schemes like TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme). We will continue to help the players in an unprecedented manner.”
Yogesh Kathunia (Disc Throw F56 Silver Medal) and Sharad Kumar (High Jump T63 Bronze) were also present on the occasion. Jhajharia said, “The government has helped us a lot in the last four years. Talking to Prime Minister Modi ji boosted our morale.”
“It was a very tough Paralympics because we didn’t know if the Games would even take place or not. We are very happy with the way the government helped us with the Target Olympic Podium scheme.”
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