NEW DELHI: The Indian Olympic Association(IOA) chief Narinder Batra stated that the bar which the Indian contingent has set in Tokyo Olympics cannot go down as it has to go upwards only. India recorded its best-ever haul at the Tokyo 2020 with seven medals (one gold, two silver, and four bronze).
Neeraj Chopra (gold), Bajrang Punia (bronze), Mirabai Chanu (silver), PV Sindhu (bronze), Lovlina Borgohain (bronze), men's hockey team ( bronze), and Ravi Kumar Dahiya (silver) won medals for the Indian contingent.
"The final results were good. Even though our expectations were high, everyone gave their best and on the day those who were good came with a win," Narinder Batra told reporters on Monday.
"The thing which we have learned from this performance will be corrected from tomorrow. This process will start tomorrow for the next Olympics."
India finished the Games with a ranking of 48. On this, the IOC chief pointed, "This ranking has become the benchmark for team and India should not go below that ever."
"The bar which has been set cannot go down, it has to go up only," he added.
Batra praised Neeraj Chopra for winning India's first gold medal in athletics, as he said: "Neeraj's performance was commendable. It has touched the heart of every Indian and gave a very happy moment to celebrate."
Talking about the woes of the Indian shooting contingent at Tokyo, he said: "I am not dissatisfied with anyone and those who performed better took medals. We will reinforce the correction course and you will also see the future results of it."
Indian athletes were receiving constant calls and praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi after their events. Speaking on this, IOA chief stated: "Athletes' morale also goes up that our country's PM is watching our event. How he supported athletes after every event, is very commendable. There is nothing bigger than getting the phone call from the Prime Minister."