‘You are the GOAT for the country’: PM Modi felicitates Asian Games medallists

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, October 10

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged top national athletes, who represented the country at the most successful Asian Games yet in Hangzhou, to join India’s fight against drugs and become brand ambassadors for fitness and super foods to promote healthy eating.

Interacting with the Asian Games contingent today at Major Dhyan Chand stadium, the PM said India always had sporting talent but “past challenges prevented medal haul”.

Promising that financial constraints will again fetter the flight of Indian athletes, the PM said sports budget had been raised three fold in nine years and Khelo India scheme had become a cradle for sporting talent, especially rural talent.

“We have never been short of sporting talent. The urge to win has always been there in the country. But due to many challenges in the past we lagged behind in the medal tally. Since 2014, India has been engaged in transforming the sports sector. We want our sportspersons to get the best facilities, maximum opportunities to play abroad and at home, transparent selection, without prejudice, and opportunities for rural sports talent,” said the PM.

He said 125 athletes who just participated in the Asian Games were the finds of Khelo India. “Forty of them have also won medals. The fact that athletes are reaching the podium shows Khelo India is headed in the right direction. As many as 3000 plus athletes are currently under training under the scheme which is giving sportspersons Rs 2.5 crore in help. Money will never hinder your path to sporting growth,” the PM told top athletes, including Javelin sensation Neeraj Chopra.

The PM said the government planned to spend Rs 3000 crore on sports in the next five years.

The PM described the contingent members as GOATS (Greatest of all time) saying, “For the country, you are all GOATS.”

He said the medal winners had emerged as symbols of a new India which is not satisfied with good performance alone but also has a hunger for medals.

He especially lauded young athletes who won many medals.

The PM used the occasion to urge sportspersons to aid India’s “decisive fight against drugs.”

“You are all well aware of the negative effects of drugs and how doping has ruined careers. Please warn our youngsters against drugs and make it a point to speak for drug free India whenever you make a public appearance,” PM asked athletes.

He told the athletes they were the “best brand ambassadors of the war against drugs as they had shown it was possible to succeed by the dint of mental and physical strength.”

The PM also asked athletes to promote healthy eating and fitness through superfoods like millets.

He said the strong sporting performance in playgrounds was a reflection of a strong domestic political situation.

“If the domestic situation is not right, it is bound to reflect on the playground also. Today when India is moving towards becoming one of the world’s top three economies, a development that will benefit the youth directly,” the PM said, asking athletes to prepare for the Paris Olympics.

Also present on the occasion was Sports Minister Anurag Thakur.

The event was organised to congratulate the athletes for their outstanding achievement at the Asian Games and motivate them for future competitions. India won 107 medals, including 28 gold medals at the Asian Games 2022, India’s best performance in the Asian Games in terms of medals won.