PM Modi: Medals a strong representation of the new India

Telling the athletes that being in their presence filled him with pride, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met India's Asian Games medal-winners at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday.

In a rousing speech, PM Modi lauded the country's athletes who delivered 85 medals, including 21 gold, at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

"You have made 140 crore Indians proud. The biggest success is to increase the prestige and respect of the Tri-colour. That is what you have done. And that is why your success isn't just yours, but also of the crores of people in the country," Modi said in his speech.

In the audience sat the country's medal winners, including members of both the hockey teams, the women's cricket team scheduled to play Zimbabwe in a T20I in Raipur on Friday, and the men's cricket team that played West Indies in a T20I in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Also present were a host of medallists in athletics, boxing and other individual sports, along with union sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya and other dignitaries.

The PM was presented with a range of memorabilia – from a bow by 17-year-old recurve archer and twice gold medallist Kumkum Mohod, to a glove and golf ball by history-setter in golf Pranavi Urs, to a hockey stick by the women’s team.

Modi especially congratulated the women athletes. From India's 85 medal winners, 38 were women, 11 of them gold medallists. "These medals are not just numbers. They are a strong representation of the new India," said Modi.

For the PM, the recent Asian Games were memorable for several reasons. Among them, he said, were both hockey teams winning gold, especially the women's team ending a 44-year wait, and both cricket and kabaddi teams defending their titles from the Hangzhou edition. Modi also touched upon archery's golden highs, new records set in athletics, and the long-awaited medals in weightlifting and marathon.

Medals in sports like MMA and soft tennis were signs that Indians are also making their mark in other sports. "Today, India is rising in the kind of sports where we had no medals ever at the Asian Games," said the PM.

"There was a time when India would win only a handful of medals in big tournaments. There were so many sports that India did not even know about. In more than half the sports at the Olympics, India had no representation at all. We resolved to end this negative mindset. And the result is that on every global platform, we have increasing representation."

Modi added that Indian athletes have to keep working to continue scaling more heights. He also highlighted the work done behind the scenes in terms of talent identification, including scouting young talents across villages, with a long-term vision. In that vision, the PM reiterated India's desire to host the 2036 Olympics.

“We have big dreams. We also have a big self-belief of fulfilling them,” Modi said. “And that is why, I am saying with full confidence, that India will host a lot of big sports events.”