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In a first, four athletes set to get Khel Ratna

In an unprecedented move, the country’s highest sporting award — the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna — will be conferred upon four athletes with Olympic medallists P.V.

In an unprecedented move, the country’s highest sporting award — the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna — will be conferred upon four athletes with Olympic medallists P.V. Sindhu and Sakshi Malik set to be honoured alongside trail-blazing gymnast Dipa Karmakar and ace shooter Jitu Rai.

While shuttler Sindhu created history by becoming the first woman athlete from India to grab a silver in the Rio Olympics, Sakshi bagged a bronze in the 58kg wrestling.

Dipa, India’s first female gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, missed the bronze by 0.15 points but her clean finish in the high-risk Produnova vault won the hearts of the nation, while Jitu bagged over half a dozen medals in the past two years, including gold at the Asian and the Commonwealth Games and a silver in World Championships, which ensured his passage to Rio.

Besides, the sports ministry also selected 15 athletes for this year’s Arjuna Award. The notable names in the list are boxer Shiva Thapa, long distance runner Lalita Babar, cricketer Ajinkya Rahane, wrestler Vinesh, hockey players V.R. Raghunath and Rani Rampal among others.

This year’s Dronacharya Award would be conferred upon six coaches, the most notable among being Dipa’s coach Bishweshwar Nandi.

Sudha hospitalised Steeplechaser Sudha Singh, who returned from Rio with fever, has been undergoing treatment in Bengaluru for a suspected Zika virus. “The doctors have taken the blood samples to avoid risk factors. Hopefully, it is not Zika,” said Sports Authority of India regional director M. Shyam Sunder.

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