Grandest-ever felicitation for Indian Olympic contingent
CHENNAI: In what could be the grandest-ever function to be held in the country to honour athletes, the Union Government has invited the Indian Olympic contingent to attend an Independence Day felicitation programme starting Saturday.
The Indian Olympic contingent comprised 126 athletes and 101 coaches, support staff and officials. Apart from the athletes, the list of invited guests also consists of coaches, support staff, India’s Chief De Mission and Deputy Chief De Mission, presidents and secretaries of national sports federations (NSFs) of 18 participating disciplines at the Tokyo Games.
The invitees have been asked to bring negative reports of the RT-PCR tests done on them either on August 12 or 13 and would not be allowed to be part of the function if they fail to submit the same. All of them have to reach New Delhi by 10 am on Saturday and check-in at Ashoka Hotel. They will leave for Rashtrapati Bhavan on dedicated buses in the afternoon to have tea with the President. Their day will begin rather early on August 15 as they will have to assemble at the hotel lobby at 5 am before departing for Red Fort on buses. All of them will then attend the Independence Day celebration ceremony at the Red Fort. In the evening, the invitees will attend a felicitation programme being organised by the Indian Olympic Association at the hotel.
On August 16, they will leave for PM’s residence in the morning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the members of the Olympic contingent from 9:30 am onwards. The invitees will checkout from the hotel and start departing for their respective destinations depending on the flight schedule.
“The presidents and secretaries of all the 18 NSFs whose athletes competed at the Tokyo Games have also been invited for the felicitation programme. All the invitees have to follow a few protocols given the situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Sahdev Yadav, secretary-general of the Indian Weightlifting Federation, told this daily.
As per the invitation, the guests can arrive in the national capital on August 13 in case of unavailability of the early morning flights. The Tokyo Games witnessed the best-ever show by the Indian athletes in the marquee event as they won seven medals including a gold medal by javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra.