Tokyo Olympics 2020: No government officials to be part of Indian delegation, says sports minister

In a significant decision, the sports ministry has decided against sending any of its officials as part of the Tokyo Olympics delegation.

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju took to Twitter to inform that the rationale behind the decision is to optimize the performance of the athletes by sending more support staff like coaches, physiotherapists and doctors. 

According to media reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would accord an official send-off to the Indian contingent somewhere between July 10-15. 

As per Olympics committee rules, the number of officials travelling to the event cannot be more than one-third of the athletes' contingent. So far, over 100 Indian athletes have booked their Tokyo berths. 

The Tokyo Olympics 2020 is officially kicking off on July 23. The first events to kick off will be the football and softball/ baseball competitions. These competitions will begin on July 21, ahead of the official event opening. The Games will come to an end on August 8.

Indian is pinning its medal hopes on shuttler PV Sindhu, wrestler Bajrang Punia, shooters Apurvi Chandela and Anjum Moudgil, among others. 

Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari will be leading the Archey contingent. Another athlete to watch out for would be Pranati Nayak, who is the second Indian woman to qualify for the gymnastics events after Dipa Karmakar.

• Indian athletes
• Indian delegation
• Kiren Rijiju
• Olympics support staff
• Sports Minister
• Tokyo Olympics 2020
• Tokyo Olympics