President Droupadi Murmu Honours Indian Athletes With Arjuna Awards
Synopsis
President Droupadi Murmu conferred the prestigious Arjuna Awards to top Indian athletes and coaches at Rashtrapati Bhavan, recognizing their outstanding contributions to sports excellence in various international competitions.
President Droupadi Murmu Honours Indian Athletes With Arjuna Awards
New Delhi [India], November 13 (ANI): India's athletics stars Tejaswin Shankar, Priyanka Goswami, shooter Akhil Sheoran were among several players honoured with the Arjuna Award by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Friday. Several Indian athletes and coaches are receiving their National Sports Awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan from President Droupadi Murmu on Friday.
The National Sports Awards are given every year to recognise and reward excellence in sports. Based on the recommendations of the Selection Committee chaired by a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra, the Government has decided to confer awards on the following sportspersons, coaches and entities under various categories.
Indian decathlon and high jump star Tejaswin Shankar, who secured bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow and Asian Games at Aichi-Nagoya this year, was felicitated by president Murmu. Posting on X, president Murmu's official handle wrote, "President Smt. Droupadi Murmu presented the Arjuna Award, 2025 to Shri Tejaswin Shankar for his outstanding achievements in athletics. Shri Tejaswin Shankar has won medals at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the Hangzhou Asian Games, and the Asian Athletics Championships held in Bangkok and Gumi."
India's race walk athlete Priyanka Goswami, a 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medalist was also honoured with the prestigious award. "President Smt. Droupadi Murmu presented the Arjuna Award, 2025 to Ms. Priyanka Goswami for her outstanding achievements in athletics. Ms. Priyanka Goswami has won medals at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the Bangkok Asian Athletics Championships," posted president Murmu's official X handle.
Muhammad Ajmal Variyathodi, a specialist in 400 m events and 2022 Commonwealth Games gold and silver medalist also received his award for his notable contributions in India's rising profile in athletics. For Asian Games medalist and Asian Boxing Championship medalist boxer Narender, the official handle of president Murmu wrote, "President Smt. Droupadi Murmu presented the Arjuna Award, 2025 to Shri Narender for his outstanding achievements in boxing. Shri Narender won medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Amman ASBC Asian Boxing Championships."
Akhil, an Asian Games and World Championships gold medalist and most recently, a silver medalist at the 2025 Asian Championships and a bronze medalist at the World Championships in Doha this year, also received his award. Sailor Arvind Singh, best known for his medal-winning performances at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games and the Asian Rowing Championships was also recognised for his accomplishments.
The 'Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games' is given for good performance over a period of the previous four years. The Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games will be given to coaches for doing outstanding and meritorious work. Parveer Singh (athletics), Chhote Lal Yadav (boxing) and Neha Nandkumar Chavan (shooting) will be among the recipients in the regular category, while Dharmendra Singh Yadav (boxing) and Virender Kumar (wrestling) will receive the lifetime honours. The 'Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar' will also be given to the Army Paralympic Node, Pune.