PM Modi Meets India’s Asian Games Medal Winners in Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met India’s Asian Games medal winners at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium on Thursday, congratulating the contingent after it won 85 medals, including 21 golds. The gathering included the gold medal-winning men’s and women’s cricket teams, with Modi saying the athletes had made 140 crore Indians proud.

India’s medal total was lower than the 106 achieved at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, but the contingent’s debutants supplied an encouraging contribution of 41 medals. Modi said sporting success carried significance beyond individual achievement because it raised the tricolour and belonged to the wider country.

“You have made 140 crore Indians proud. The biggest success is to make the tricolour fly high. That’s why your success is not just yours but belongs to crores of our countrymen. I congratulate you on behalf of the entire country,” Modi said in his address.

Recognition for cricket, hockey, archery and women athletes

The medal winners were joined by officials from their respective governing bodies, including International Cricket Council chairman Jay Shah and Indian Olympic Association president P T Usha. Modi posed for photographs with the athletes and received memorabilia during the occasion.

Seventeen-year-old recurve archer Kumkum Mohod, who won two gold medals in the individual and women’s team events as well as a silver in the mixed team event, presented the Prime Minister with a bow. Golfer Pranavi Urs presented a glove and a golf ball in a frame.

Harmanpreet Kaur, who led the women’s cricket side to Asian Games gold before stepping down from the role days earlier, presented Modi with a jersey signed by the medal-winning team. Her successor, Smriti Mandhana, also posed with her.

The entire men’s T20 side, led by Shreyas Iyer, attended the meeting ahead of its match against West Indies in Bengaluru on Saturday. The women’s team was also present ahead of its T20I against Zimbabwe in Raipur on Friday.

Modi placed particular emphasis on the contribution of women athletes, who won 38 of India’s 85 medals. Eleven of those medals were gold. He praised the cricket and hockey teams as well as the archers, who won five gold medals, and highlighted the women’s hockey team’s achievement in ending a 44-year wait for Asian Games gold.

“I especially want to congratulate our women athletes. They contributed 38 medals to our tally, and 11 of those medals were gold,” Modi said.

Sporting ambitions and hosting resolve

Modi linked the medal-winning campaign to India’s broader sporting ambitions, saying the country was becoming both a stronger competitive force and a credible host for major international events. He said India is bidding to host the 2036 Olympics and reiterated the resolve to stage the Games.

“India is emerging as a credible and hospitable destination for international sporting events. We are bidding to host the 2036 Olympics, and it is our resolve that we will host the Games,” he said.

The Prime Minister also referred to the work needed behind sporting results, saying dreams and resolve are not fulfilled in a day and require years of hard work and dedication. He said India had shown patience over the past 12 years while building a sports ecosystem.

Modi said there had been a period when India won relatively few medals at major events and many sports were less familiar to the country. He said a commitment to move beyond that pessimism had resulted in increased Indian representation on the global stage, adding that a transparent system was now in place for sport.