Paralympians deserve highest recognition & awards: Milkha Singh

TIL Desk Sports/ Legendary athlete Milkha Singh feels that the paralympics deserve the highest recognition and awards that the country can bestow upon them as they are the perfect examples of what can be achieved against all odds. “These athletes deserve the highest recognition and awards that our country can bestow on them because they are shining examples of what a society can achieve through hard work, determination and commitment,” the former athlete, known as ‘Flying Sikh’, said.

Mariyappan Thangavelu (gold in men’s T42 High Jump), Varun Bhati (bronze in men’s T42 High Jump), Deepa Malik (silver in women’s shotput F53 event) and Devendra Jhajharia (gold in men’s F46 javelin throw) have bagged medals in their respective disciplines and there has been a demand that the Paralympic medallists be conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award — the highest sporting honour in the country.

An Olympic medallist directly qualifies for the Khel Ratna award during an Olympic year but there is no such policy in place for the paralympians. Milkha, who had missed a bronze medal by a whisker in the 1960 Rome Olympics, congratulated all the athletes who are currently representing India at the ongoing Rio Paralympics for their efforts and successful performances.