India unites to have fun Tokyo 2020 Champions: Neeraj Chopra’s gold steals the present at felicitation ceremony

India’s Tokyo Olympics medal winners acquired a grand welcome by the federal government in a blinding felicitation ceremony held on the Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi on Monday with Sports Minister Anurag Thakur saying that their journey is an “incredible story of resilience and sporting excellence”.

Gold medal-winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was the cynosure of all eyes within the delayed ceremony, held a few hours after the seven podium finishers made their method out of the airport amid utter chaos.Thousands of followers waited outdoors the airport to welcome wrestlers Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Bajrang Punia, boxer Lovlina Borgohain and the lads’s hockey staff, who arrived from Tokyo earlier within the day.TOKYO 2020 FULL COVERAGENeeraj Chopra, Lovlina Borgohain, Bajrang Punia, Manpreet Singh and Ravi Kumar Dahiya took the stage whereas the hockey groups sat within the entrance row in the course of the ceremony.At the felicitation ceremony, they had been introduced mementos and shawls by the minister. Both the bronze-winning males’s hockey staff and fourth-place ending ladies’s staff lower truffles after arriving on the lodge.WHO SAID WHAT AT FELICITATION CEREMONYNEERAJ CHOPRA India Today Photo”Thank you all for the support. This gold medal is not just but for the entire nation. I have been roaming around with this in my pocket since then. I haven’t been able to eat or sleep properly since then but everything feels fine when I look at it.”Competition was actually powerful, however it’s best to by no means get scared by your opponents. Just give your 100% and do not be afraid of anyone. When I threw the javelin for the 2nd time, I assumed it might be my greatest try. My again and shoulders had been paining after the occasion the following morning,” Neeraj Chopra, who was the final athlete to be felicitated, says to a loud applause from everybody present at the Ashoka Hotel.RAVI KUMAR DAHIYA PTI Photo”We began from our village after which we got here to Delhi. When I noticed how Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt obtained medals in wrestling, I obtained impressed by that and wished to do the identical for my nation,” says Ravi Kumar Dahiya, who won the silver in wrestling to match Sushil’s 2012 feat.PR SREEJESH”We are all like a household, after we come again with the medals it’s for all the nation. I want to name Savita Punia the Great Wall of India as a result of she deserved the identify for the saves she made. Unfortunately, they may not win the medal however made all the nation proud,” says Sreejesh. PTI PhotoMANPREET SINGH”I want to thank the SAI, IOA as a result of they helped us throughout our troublesome occasions. They informed us solely to give attention to the event and guaranteed us of all the pieces we wanted for the Games. I want to additionally thank each medal winner, particularly Neeraj Chopra,” said Manpreet Singh.”We had a combination of youth and expertise in our staff they usually confirmed that at Tokyo 2020,” says India hockey coach.LOVLINA BORGOHAIN PTI Photo”I really feel actually good after coming again house. We knew individuals again house can be celebrating. We will maintain attempting and look to get extra medals for India sooner or later.”The last few days before my bout, I was only thinking about getting the gold for India. I only wanted the gold and that is what I will be trying to win in the Paris Olympics,” says Lovlina Borgohain, who received India’s solely boxing medal at Tokyo 2020 in her maiden Olympic look.BAJRANG PUNIA PTI Photo”Thank you all for the love and respect we have got. It feels like I have won a medal again today. About the injury, it was my last bout so I wanted to give it my all, I didn’t care about the knee injury.”Even if my knee had damaged it would not have mattered to me I simply wished to offer my greatest and get the medal,” says Bajrang Punia, who won the bronze in wrestling for Team India.ANURAG THAKUR”This night is for the Olympians who’ve made India proud. I would love you all to cheer for them. On behalf of 130 crore Indians, I want to congratulate our Olympians. We are so pleased with you.”Tokyo Olympics had many firsts for India. The biggest contingent of 128 athletes went there, we won 7 medals. Neeraj Chopra ended our 121-year wait for an athletics medal. Our national anthem was playing in Tokyo but Indians were celebrating here,” Anurag Thakur mentioned.KIREN RIJIJU”There is nothing bigger than the Olympics. From the entire nation, I would like to thank all our athletes and medal winners. These are the moments where you cannot express in words, you can only experience it.”From the Prime Minister to each child within the nation, all the nation was cheering for India. The whole nation was behind our Olympians. Thank you for uniting the nation, we’re all pleased with what you all have achieved.”We had a lot of other things prepared for you all before the Games, from food to every thing you needed we had ready but Covid put all our plans down the drain,” says former Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju.”The athletes who have made the country proud at the Olympics, I feel honoured to be here among all these people. There is no bigger honour for a sportsperson than to see the Indian flag flying high at the Olympics. I am feeling so happy to see these athletes realise their dreams,” says Nisith Pramanik, MoS Home Affairs.