PM Narendra Modi meets members of Indian Olympic contingent

The function was held at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi and other dignitaries including 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, HI Secretary General Mohammed Mushtaq Ahmed also attended the function, reported PTI.

Shooters Jitu Rai, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Heena Sidhu and shuttlers PV Sindhu, K Srikanth, boxer Shiva Thapa, and wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt were among the prominent athletes that attended the function. National badminton coach Pullela Gopichand, boxing coach Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu, and Indian women’s hockey team coach Neil Hawgood also attended the function.

Meeting PM Modi was motivating and encouraging, hope to bring at least 2 to 3 medals."

P V Sindhu

The Prime Minister interacted with the athletes individually and also wished them luck for the Olympics during the send-off function. Many athletes were forced to give the event a miss due to training schedules.

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"Meeting PM Modi was motivating and encouraging, hope to bring at least 2 to 3 medals," said P V Sindhu, reported ANI.

"For the 1st time PM is sending off a team, that itself is very motivating," said Anju Bobby George, reported ANI. 

India will be sending their biggest ever contingent to the Olympics this year. The number of athletes qualified for the Olympics currently stands at 103, and some more are expected to swell the ranks through qualifiers over the next fortnight. India's previous campaign to the London Olympics in 2012 had seen 83 athletes participating in the games.

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