Bhubaneswar: Odisha sprinter Dutee Chand figures in the list of athletes recommended for this year’s Arjuna award by the Sports Ministry’s selection committee on Tuesday, a PTI report said.
Dutee is the current national champion in the women’s 100 metres event and only the third Indian woman to ever qualify for the Women’s 100 metres event at the Summer Olympic Games. She won the 100m gold medal in the World University Games in Napoli in 2019.
Dutee is currently training to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
The probable list also includes India pacer Ishant Sharma, male recurve archer Atanu Das, women’s hockey team player Deepika Thakur, kabaddi player Deepak Hooda and tennis player Divij Sharan, among others.
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy have been recommended as a pair for the prestigious award, a source within the Sports Ministry told ANI.
The Ministry will take a final decision on the recommendations.
National Sports Awards, which include the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the Arjuna award, the Dronacharya award, and the Dhyan Chand award, are conferred on athletes every year by the President of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 29, the National Sports Day.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the names would be announced by President Ram Nath Kovind at a virtual ceremony this year, the source added.
Started in 1961, Arjuna award carries a cash prize of ₹5,00,000, a bronze statue of Arjuna and a scroll.
