By IANS,
New Delhi : Bronze medallist at the Beijing Games wrestler Sushil Kumar was felicitated by the Delhi Government at a function Monday.
The function was organised at Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s residence at Motilal Nehru Marg here.
Union Sports Minister Dr. M.S. Gill and Dikshit jointly presented Sushil Kumar with a cheque of Rs.5 million, citation and a memento.
“Everyone including my coach, family, members of my village and my father worked hard with me for this medal,” Sushil said.
Dikshit also felicitated Sushil’s father, Diwan Singh.
However, in a bid to encourage those who missed out on a medal narrowly, the government also felicitated wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt.
Dikshit expressed confidence that Yogeshwar would also be able to win a medal in the next Olympics.
The chief minister also felicitated Yashvir and Ramphal, Sushil’s trainers, and his coach Sat Pal.
“Sushil Kumar has created history by winning a medal in wrestling in Olympic games after a gap of 56 years. This has been possible only because of his commitment and extensive training imparted by his coach Sat Pal,” said Dikshit.
“We are training sportspersons in sports such as tennis, table tennis and badminton. We want a lot of medals in the 2010 Commonwealth Games,” she said.
“We will help sportspersons in every possible manner,” Dikshit said.
Union sports minister Gill paid rich tributes to Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, who won a bronze medal in Wrestling in 1952 at the Helsinki Olympics.
“His achievement was, no doubt, much commendable as he travelled to Helsinki without any support, coach and contingent leader,” Gill said while exhorting players to get ready for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and set their eyes on the 2012 London Olympics.
“The country is aspiring for minimum four gold medals in 2012 Olympic from wrestling,” he added.
He also expressed confidence that the country would perform better in the upcoming Commonwealth games.