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Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for changing the mindset about athletics in the nation and focusing on providing better facilities to Indian athletes.
PM Modi and Anurag Thakur addressed the Indian contingent who participated in the 19th Asian Games and achieved a historic feat at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Tuesday. India crossed the 100-medal mark for the first time in their Asian Games history, making this one of the most memorable sporting events for the country in a long while and something that will immortalise all the athletes taking part in it. Anurag Thakur highlighted PM Modi's efforts for athletes which wasn't the case before and said, "Earlier, when athletes of India used to go for competitions, most of the attention was given to the officials but since PM Modi has come, not just officers but attention is being given to athletes also and facilities are provided to them. PM Modi changed the mindset and provided all the facilities to athletes and our athletes also left no stone unturned in terms of hard work." India finished their Asian Games 2023 campaign with a record haul of 107 medals, 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze. This surpassed India's previous record tally achieved at the last edition at Jakarta 2018, where a 570-strong Indian squad racked up 70 medals, 16 gold, 23 silver, and 31 bronze. Shooting led the way for India at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou with an unprecedented haul of 22 medals, which included seven gold. Athletics, headlined by Neeraj Chopra's successful title defence in the javelin throw, came a close second with six gold along with 14 silver and nine bronze. Athletics gave the country a total of 29 medals. (ANI)
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