"First of all, remove the thought from your mind that you have returned to India after losing the Olympics. You have returned with the country's flag held high. You have also gained some valuable experience, and sports is the one field, my friends, where no one ever truly loses; everyone learns," PM Modi said during a conversation with the sportspersons at his residence on Thursday.
"The world has seen what you did on the field. Now, tell me what you did off the field. You must have made friends with athletes from around the world and learned a lot," the PM told them
"Maybe you thought, it would be great if we also had something like this in our country as well...," the PM said.
PM Modi shook hands with players and praised India's youngest Olympic medallist Aman Sehrawat, shooters Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh and Swapnil Kusale and members of the Indian men's hockey team among others.
The Prime Minister also clicked pictures with the athletes during the event.
Hockey veteran P.R. Sreejesh, captain Harmanpreet Singh and Aman gifted India jerseys and hockey to PM Modi during their meeting.
A total of 117 Indian athletes participated across 16 sports at the Paris Games -- archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, equestrian, golf, hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, wrestling, table tennis, and tennis.
India clinched six medals at the Paris Olympics, one silver and five bronze. Although hopes were high for a historic performance, the country fell just short of surpassing its previous best at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when they secured seven medals (1 gold, 2 silver, and 4 bronze) and ranked 48th.
Manu became the first Indian woman to win a shooting medal at the Olympics. Moreover, she became the first Indian athlete in the post-Independence era to win multiple medals in a single edition of the Games.
Later, Manu, partnering with Sarabjot Singh, became the first Indian shooting pair to win an Olympic medal in shooting. Overall, it was India’s sixth Olympic medal in shooting.
When Swapnil Kusale clinched the bronze in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions on August 1, he secured India's third shooting medal at the Paris Olympics, marking a historic achievement. This not only set a new record for India's best-ever medal tally in a single sport at the Olympics but also earned the nation its first Olympic shooting medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions event.
The ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra produced his career’s second-best javelin throw at Paris 2024 with an effort of 89.45m but was beaten for gold by Arshad Nadeem, who achieved a new Olympic record of 92.97m. Although it wasn't gold, winning an Olympic silver medal was a significant achievement for the 26-year-old, as it marked only India's second medal in athletics at the Summer Games -- both secured by Neeraj.
In the process, Neeraj became the third two-time Olympic medallist from India after adding a silver to his Tokyo 2020 gold medal. Sushil Kumar and P.V. Sindhu are the other two-time athletes who won two Olympics in successive editions.
India, the bronze medalists in hockey at Tokyo, achieved back-to-back Olympic podium finishes for the first time in 52 years, since the Munich 1972 Games, by rallying from a goal down to defeat Spain 2-1 in the men's hockey bronze medal playoff.
This victory at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium also secured India's record-extending 13th Olympic hockey medal.
--IANS
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