After ISSF World Cup, Kiren Rijiju hopeful of Indian shooters doing wonders at Tokyo
NEW DELHI: There have been instances of athletes taking the first dose of the vaccine — a few Olympics-bound archers, Bajrang Punia among the famous ones. And Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said that it is their personal choice.
"A few athletes might have apprehensions despite being in bubble structures, especially a few Olympic-bound athletes. Some of them have gone ahead (with the vaccination) and I cannot stop as it is up to the individual if they want to take certain precautionary steps."
The minister confirmed that all athletes will be inoculated before flying out to Tokyo. Rijiju was present during Wednesday's 25m women's pistol final where India made a clean sweep of all the medals. He praised India's shooting talents while adding that he hopes India will fight for medals in Tokyo.
"The results show India has arrived. We are one of the leading nations in shooting and this gives us a lot of confidence ahead of the Olympics. We are going to send the largest Olympic contingent and an additional quota is expected here. Earlier, India used to just participate but this time India is going to fight for medals," the minister said.
He also praised the organisation of an event of such a scale while adding that the ministry tried to provide all support to athletes which helped their morale.
"This is the biggest event being conducted in India after COVID-19 struck. Last year, this was to happen but just a week before, we had to call it off. There was no lockdown then but we knew it could be a problem so we called it off. Coming back and hosting this world cup gives a lot of confidence for the country and sportspersons."
"In the last one year, we have ensured all athletes have been provided with all support. You can ask shooters: there was no shortage of ammunition. We made sure they got ammunition delivered to their doorsteps. This kind of backing which we ensured for the entire lockdown period has made a tremendous impact and helped in maintaining their level of performance."