National Sports Day: All sportspersons who received the Khel Ratna Award
August 29, popularly known as National Sports Day in India marks the birth anniversary of Indian hockey’s goal machine Major Dhyan Chand. In a career spanning 22 years from 1926 to 1948, he scored a total of 400 goals, making an impact on international hockey. This day is commemorated to celebrate India’s top athletes who have left a mark on Indian sporting history and sports culture by awarding them with the highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
Beginning in 1991, the Khel Ratna award is a civilian award that ensures a medallion, a certificate and a monetary prize of Rs. 7.5 lakhs for a sportsperson’s contributions. So far, there are 38 Khel Ratna awardees. Listed below are all the athletes who are recipients of the prestigious award.
Viswanathan Anand - Chess
Geet Sethi - Billiards
Homi Motivala - Yatching
Pushpendra Kumar Garg - Yatching
Karnam Malleswari - Weightlifting
Kunjarani Devi - Weightlifting
Leander Paes - Tennis
Sachin Tendulkar - Cricket
Jyotirmoyee Sikdar - Athletics
Dhanraj Pillay - Hockey
Pullela Gopichand - Badminton
Abhinav Bindra - Shooting
K. M. Beenamol - Athletics
Anjali Bhagwat - Shooting
Anju Bobby George - Athletics
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore - Shooting
Pankaj Advani - Billiards and Snooker
Manavjit Singh Sandhu - Shooting
Mahendra Singh Dhoni - Cricket
Mary Kom - Boxing
Vijender Singh - Boxing
Sushil Kumar - Wrestling
Saina Nehwal - Badminton
Gagan Narang - Shooting
Vijay Kumar - Shooting
Yogeshwar Dutt - Wrestling
Ronjan Sodhi - Shooting
Sania Mirza - Tennis
Devendra Jhajharia - Para athletics
Sardar Singh - Hockey
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu - Weightlifting
P. V. Sindhu - Badminton
Dipa Karmakar - Gymnastics
Jitu Rai - Shooting
Sakshi Malik - Wrestling
Virat Kohli - Cricket
Deepa Malik - Para athletics
Bajrang Punia - Wrestling
Athletes have been nominated for the Khel Ratna award in 2020 which is yet to be announced. Prominent names in Indian sports such as Rani Rampal, Neeraj Chopra, Rohit Sharma and more have been nominated for the prestigious award.
Also read: States that won most Olympic medals for India
Also read: Know your Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award nominees for 2020