Wrestling
Bajrang Punia to visit Panipat school for next episode of Meet the Champions
Earlier this month, Olympic gold-medallist Neeraj Chopra visited an Ahmedabad school to launch the programme and discuss sports and a balanced diet with students.
Olympic bronze-medallist wrestler Bajrang Punia on Monday said he will visit the Aarohi Model School in Panipat on December 23 as part of the 'Meet the Champions' programme and discuss sports and a balanced diet with the students.
"I am very happy that I in the next episode of Meet the Champions I will be visiting the famous Aarohi Model School in Panipat on December 23. There I will talk with the kids about the importance of sports and balanced diet," Bajrang tweeted.
Earlier this month, a javelin thrower and Olympic gold-medallist Neeraj Chopra visited the Sanskardham school in Gujarat's Ahmedabad to launch the national mission wherein renowned sportsmen would visit schools in the country to make students aware of the importance of a balanced diet, fitness and sports. A brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the outreach initiative envisages all Olympians and Paralympians interacting with students from 75 schools each in two years to motivate the youngsters to have 'Santulit Ahaar' or a balanced diet and take on fitness activities.
The Sports Authority of India and Ministry of Education are now working on tying up to run this mega plan as a 'Meet the Champions' programme over the next two years. During his visit, Bajrang will make the students aware of the importance of a balanced diet, fitness and sports. Bajrang won India's sixth medal at the Tokyo Olympics after defeating Kazakhstan's Daulet Niyazbekov in the men's freestyle 65 kg bout.
The 27-year-old athlete from Haryana is the only Indian wrestler to win three medals at the World Wrestling Championships and had entered the Tokyo Games as one of the country's top contenders. Bajrang is the sixth Indian wrestler to finish on the Olympic podium after KD Jadhav, Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Sakshi Malik and Ravi Kumar Dahiya.
He won a bronze in the 2019 World Championships and had won a silver in 2018, both in the 65kg category. He had won a bronze at the world championships in 2013 in the 60 kg category.
He is also the reigning Commonwealth and Asian Games champion of the 65kg category, having won the gold medal in 2018 in both events. He had won a silver medal in the 61kg category in the CWG and Asiad in 2014 respectively.
