Over 450 senior athletes are training under the Indian Army's "Mission Olympics Wing

More than 450 senior athletes are currently getting trained under the Indian Army's "Mission Olympics Wing", senior officials said on Tuesday. Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, after joining the army in May 2016, was selected for training under the Mission Olympics Wing. He won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2021.

The Mission Olympics Wing is an initiative by the Indian Army to identify and train promising sportspersons in 11 disciplines for various national and international competitions. According to army officials, there are five nodes in the Mission Olympics Wing: Rowing node, Marksmanship node (for shooters), Equestrian node, Sailing node and Army Sports Institute (ASI).

They said the ASI is training over 200 senior athletes in seven disciplines: athletics, archery, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing and diving. Around 100 shooters are getting training under marksmanship node. Around 90, 50 and 10 senior athletes are being trained currently under rowing node, sailing node and equestrian node, respectively, the officials stated.

They said 16 soldiers from the army were part of the Indian contingent that took part in the Tokyo Olympics 2021. Subedar Neeraj Copra, the 23-year-old son of a farmer from Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana, produced a second-round throw of 87.58m in the javelin throw finals on last Saturday to end India's 100-year wait for a track and field medal in the Olympics.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the armed forces on Saturday hailed Chopra, saying he made the country proud by performing like a "true soldier".