NEW DELHI: Ace shooter and multiple-time Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, world chess champion D Gukesh, Indian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh, and para-athlete Praveen Kumar have been announced as the recepients of the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award -- the country's highest sporting honour.
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Bhaker made history as independent India's first athlete to secure two medals in a single Olympic edition. She clinched bronze in the 10m air pistol individual event and the 10m air pistol mixed team event in Paris Games, held in August.
In the same Games, Harmanpreet Singh captained the Indian hockey team to its second consecutive bronze medal, continuing the team's legacy on the global stage.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Gukesh D became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion and played a pivotal role in India's historic gold medal triumph at the Chess Olympiad last year.
The fourth honoree, para high-jumper Praveen Kumar, claimed the T64 title at the Paris Paralympics. The T64 classification is designated for athletes with below-knee amputations who use prosthetics for running.
Applications for the awards were invited online, allowing sportspersons, coaches, and entities to self-apply via a dedicated online portal.
This year, a significant number of applications were submitted and subsequently reviewed by a Selection Committee chaired by Justice (Retd.) V. Ramasubramanian of the Supreme Court of India. The committee comprised eminent sportspersons, experienced sports journalists, and seasoned sports administrators.
Complete list of winnersIn addition to the Khel Ratna, the Sports Ministry announced a list of 32 athletes for the Arjuna Awards 2024 for outstanding performance in Sports and Games. The recipients include Jyothi Yarraji, Annu Rani, Nitu, Saweety, Vantika Agrawal, Salima Tete, Abhishek, Sanjay, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Rakesh Kumar, Preeti Pal, Jeevanji Deepthi, Ajeet Singh, Sachin Sarjerao Khilari, Dharambir, Pranav Soorma, H Hokato Sema, Simran, Navdeep, Nitesh Kumar, Thulasimathi Murugesan, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan, Manisha Ramadass, Kapil Parmar, Mona Agarwal, Rubina Francis, Swapnil Suresh Kusale, Sarabjot Singh, Abhay Singh, Sajan Prakash, and Aman.
Former cyclist Sucha Singh and para-swimmer Murlikant Rajaram Petkar were recognized with the Arjuna Awards (Lifetime) for their contributions to sports.
The Dronacharya Award 2024 went to Subhash Rana (para-shooting), Deepali Deshpande (shooting), and Sandeep Sangwan (hockey). S Muralidharan (badminton) and Armando Agnelo Colaco (football) received the Dronacharya Award in the lifetime category.
The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar was awarded to the Physical Education Foundation of India. Meanwhile, Chandigarh University (overall winner), Lovely Professional University (first runner-up), and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (second runner-up), were honored with the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2024.
The MAKA Trophy is awarded to the overall top-performing university in the Khelo India University Games.
"The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 17th January, 2025 (Friday) at 1100 hours," the sports ministry said in a press release.