Khel Ratna for Manu Bhaker, Gukesh Dommaraju, Harmanpreet Singh and Praveen Kumar

Twenty two year old shooter Manu Bhaker, who became the first Indian athlete to win two Olympics Medals (Both Bronze at Paris  along with eighteen year old Gukesh Dommaraju who became the youngest ever FIDE World Chess Champion  while also helping the Indian team win a historic gold in the Chess Olympiad last year were among the four athletes who will be bestowed with Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports for the year 2024.

Experienced Men's Hockey Captain and ace drag flicker Harmanpreet Singh who led the Indian outfit to its second consecutive Olympic Bronze medal and Paralympic High Jump Gold medal winner in T64 category Praveen Kumar will also get the conferred with the prestigious award which is the highest sporting honour for sportspersons in India.

The Sports Ministry also named 32 athletes, including 17 para-athletes, for Arjuna awards. The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu at a specially organized function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 17th January, 2025 (Friday) at 1100 hours.

The same is based on the recommendations of the Committee and after due scrutiny, Government has decided to confer awards upon the following sportspersons, coaches, university and entity:

A. Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024

B.  Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2024

C. Arjuna Awards (Lifetime) for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2024

D. Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games 2024

a) Regular Category:

b) Lifetime Category:

E. Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar

F. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2024:

Facts about National Sports Awards  along with selection process:

National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over the period of the previous four years.

Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games’ is given for good performance over a period of the previous four years and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.

Arjuna Award (Lifetime) is given to honour and motivate those sportspersons who have contributed to sports by their performance and continue to contribute to promotion of sports even after their retirement from active sporting career.

Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games’ is given to coaches for doing outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and for enabling sportspersons to excel in International events.

The overall top performing university in Khelo India University Games is given the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.

Selection Process: The applications were invited online and sportspersons/coaches/entities were permitted to self-apply through a dedicated Online Portal. A large number of applications were received for these awards this year, which were considered by the Selection Committee headed by Justice (Retd.) V. Ramasubramanian, Supreme Court of India and consisting members from eminent sportspersons, persons having experience in sports journalism and sports administrators.