Tokyo Olympics: Medal winners receive ‘Grand Welcome’, felicitated by Govt; As it happened; watch videos- The Indian Contingent at the Tokyo Olympics have returned to the country withe a rousing reception. The athletes including medallists Neeraj Chopra (Gold), Bajrang Punia, Lovlina Borgohain arrived at the IGI airport, Delhi today as the officials beefed up security as they welcome home India’s winners. Fans and families rushed at the airport to welcome the athletes. The winners were garlanded and presented with bouquets on arrival and were applauded by the airport staff amid huge presence of supporters and media personnel.
India’s Olympic medal-winners were accorded a grand welcome by the government in a dazzling felicitation ceremony here on Monday with sports minister Anurag Thakur saying that their journey is an “incredible story of resilience and sporting excellence”.
“From Neeraj Chopra, Bajrang Punia, Lovlina to others, all our athletes represent a new India. They are ‘New Heroes of a ‘New India’… We will ensure that all possible (sports) facilities are arranged from our end”, Anurag Thakur said at the Felicitation ceremony.
India recorded its best-ever haul at the Olympics with seven medals (one gold, two silver, and four bronze). Neeraj (gold), Bajrang (bronze), Mirabai Chanu (silver), PV Sindhu (bronze), Lovlina Borgohain (bronze), men’s hockey team ( bronze), and Ravi Kumar Dahiya (silver) won medals in the Tokyo Games.
Tokyo Olympics LIVE: Medal winners receive resounding welcome, felicitated in grand ceremony; Watch videos
Tokyo Olympics felicitation ceremony
@20:45:
I played the last bout (bronze medal clash at Tokyo Olympics) without a knee cap (despite injury). I thought if I suffered an injury in my knee, I would take rest. I thought that bout could change my life so I gave my best: Olympics bronze medalist wrestler Bajrang Punia in Delhi pic.twitter.com/64NPPcjg2S
— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2021
@20:20: The felicitation ceremony comes to an end as India await Paris Games 2024
@20:27: Indian women’s hockey team led by Rani Rampal poses with Sports minister and dignitaries
@20:19:
Delhi: Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, MoS Sports Nisith Pramanik and Law Minister & former Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju felicitate gold medal-winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra. #Olympics pic.twitter.com/7qg4WXWeLu
— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2021
@20:14: Golden boy Neeraj Chopra receive a special memento along with chief of Indian athletics
@20:08: Ravi Dahiya receives moment from Sports Minister Anurag Thakur
#Tokyo2020 silver medalist wrestler Ravi Dahiya felicitated by Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, MoS Sports Nisith Pramanik, and Law Minister Kiren Rijiju at a ceremony in Delhi pic.twitter.com/TStdnG0Vxd
— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2021
@20:06: Indian hockey team felicitated. PR Sreejesh, Harmanpreet Singh, Birendra Lakra, Surender Kumar, Rupinder Pal Singh, Sumit, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Dilpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Gurjant Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Kishan Pathak, coach Graham Reid and the captain Manpreet Singh receive momentos.
It’s culmination of 4-5 years of hard work by a lot of people. What you saw is a team that is mentally strong & always willing to fight for anything. I think that was a fantastic effort: Indian men’s hockey team chief coach Graham Reid on the team winning bronze medal in Olympics pic.twitter.com/WxKUkRvpA3
— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2021
@20:04: Feels great to win gold for India at the Olympics: Neeraj Chopra
@20:02: I am feeling great to be back in India. My effort will be to continue to bring medals for the country. I will try to win the Gold medal for India at Paris Olympics: TokyoOlympics Bronze medalist boxer Lovlina Borgohain in Delhi
@19:48:
Felicitation ceremony of #Tokyo2020 stars LIVE now on DD Sports #TeamIndia
Live stream here 📲 https://t.co/9zqvaZFQhS pic.twitter.com/Fn0q0Tcz5F
— Doordarshan Sports #TokyoOlympics (@ddsportschannel) August 9, 2021
@19:28:
“It was my dream to win an Olympic medal and come back to India. It feels very nice to meet and come back home after so long. Everyone at home is very happy, my father has come”: Lovlina Borgohain as quoted by News 18.
“Happy with the medal but will work harder and try to improve on the mistakes I made this time”: added Bajrang Punia
@19:27:
#Tokyo2020 Bronze 🥉medalist @LovlinaBorgohai is back home! 🇮🇳
We are thrilled to welcome her back and wish her success for future competitions. Cheer for her with your #Cheer4India messages@PMOIndia @ianuragthakur @NisithPramanik @WeAreTeamIndia @BFI_official @YASMinistry pic.twitter.com/8zbp98YJRf
— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) August 9, 2021
@19:23:
#WATCH | Hockey India hosted a cake-cutting ceremony for the #TokyoOlympics bronze medalist men’s hockey team at Delhi’s Ashoka hotel.
The men’s team will later be felicitated with the other #Tokyo2020 medalists at the ceremony. pic.twitter.com/4S6a0pljX9
— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2021
@19:10:
#WATCH | Delhi: Silver medalist wrestler Ravi Dahiya arrives at the hotel to attend the felicitation ceremony for the #TokyoOlympics medal winners. pic.twitter.com/f6XXblO72g
— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2021
@19:05:
#WATCH | Women’s hockey team arrives at Hotel Ashoka in Delhi. They will be felicitated by Hockey India shortly. #Olympics pic.twitter.com/7Pc8IwBQGn
— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2021
@19:00:
#Tokyo2020 Silver medalist #RaviDahiya is back home! 🥈
🇮🇳 is excited and cheering for him. Send in your best wishes with #Cheer4India#TeamIndia #Olympics@PMOIndia @ianuragthakur @NisithPramanik @FederationWrest @PIB_India @ddsportschannel @AkashvaniAIR @YASMinistry pic.twitter.com/xenjRbkTwW
— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) August 9, 2021
@17:48:
#Tokyo2020 #TeamIndia #Cheer4India
Silver medallist wrestler Ravi Dahiya gets rousing reception on his arrival at Delhi airport from Japan pic.twitter.com/sAqpgzpdtD
— TOI Sports (@toisports) August 9, 2021
@17:23:
That’s the great Grand entry of #India‘s first track & field #Olympics Champion #NeerajChopra
Welcome home son of #India
What crazy scenes here at IGI airport pic.twitter.com/B3jR3FL54p
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) August 9, 2021
@17:22: Supporters of Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya also gathered around at the Delhi Airport as the grapplers came back home after winning a bronze and silver medal respectively at the Tokyo Games.
@17:13:
That’s Indian Hockey team that just arrived in #India from #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/FEir2wNqlS
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) August 9, 2021
@17:08:
Family members & friends of #TokyoOlympics silver medalist wrestler Ravi Dahiya gather to welcome him at Delhi airport
“Residents of our village are very happy. Moments like this are very rare,” says Rakesh Dahiya, father of Ravi Dahiya pic.twitter.com/oW6E21PaJn
— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2021
@17:02:
Some junior athletes from Haryana show off their dance moves in celebration at the Neeraj Chopra reception in New Delhi. The 23-year-old javelin star won a gold medal at the #Tokyo2020 #Olympics on August 7. pic.twitter.com/QrjzeZNYBk
— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) August 9, 2021
@16:58:
A crowd gathers at the New Delhi airport to welcome #TeamIndia‘s second-ever individual #Olympics gold medallist, Neeraj Chopra, back home. pic.twitter.com/4lPyjmUGTd
— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) August 9, 2021
@16:54:
@16:38:
Welcome home champions!
🇮🇳 Athletics Team is back from the #Tokyo2020 Olympics. Lets welcome them with joy and excitement and #Cheer4India.
Watch the video and send in your best wishes in the comments below 👇🏻@PMOIndia @ianuragthakur @NisithPramanik @afiindia @WeAreTeamIndia pic.twitter.com/9wJrvdzjPC
— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) August 9, 2021
@16:35: We are just excited to meet him as soon as possible: Neeraj Chopra’s father.
“Feeling very good. We are just excited to meet him as soon as possible. I will congratulate him and will tell him ‘well done son, you did what you said you will’, “ Neeraj’s father Satish Kumar told ANI.
@16:21:
🇮🇳 Athletics team is back from #Tokyo2020
Let’s welcome them by sharing our #Cheer4India messages and encourage them for their future competitions. #Olympics #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/UOubtFBas2
— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) August 9, 2021
@15:40: Indian athletes will arrive via Air India Flight which will land at 4:19 PM
Faster, Higher, Stronger, TOGETHER 😍#ClosingCeremony | #StrongerTogether | #UnitedByEmotion | #Olympics | #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/A2akb9VGg6
— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 8, 2021
Tokyo Olympics: Delhi Police beef up security with athletes set to arrive
As per IANS, the airport officials have beefed up security sensing excitement among the Indian fans after the athletes came home having impressed one and all at the Summer Games. The athletes are expected to arrive at any time between 3 PM to 4 PM IST on Monday, and Airport officials have placed strict security at Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. Along with Delhi Police, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and dog squad teams have also been deployed to ensure the safety and security of the athletes.
The exit gate is set to be barricaded with no people allowed in and the athletes will board buses parked close to the exit gate. While gatherings are restricted in light of the pandemic, it is expected that crowds will gather to catch a glimpse of the athletes who made their nation proud at the Tokyo Olympics.
Also Read: India at Tokyo Olympics Rewards: Check out the rewards received by the Tokyo Olympics medal winners
Tokyo Olympics LIVE: Medal winners receive a resounding welcome, felicitated in grand ceremony; Watch videos
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(with ANI, PTI inputs)
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