The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, today interacted with the medal winners of the recently concluded 18th Asian Games, at his residence, today.The Prime Minister congratulated the medal winners and complimented them for their exemplary performance in the best ever medal tally for India in Asian Games. He told the medal winners that their sporting feats have raised India’s stature and pride. He expressed hope that the medal winners will remain grounded and would not lose focus due to fame and accolades.During the interaction, Prime Minister urged the sports persons to use technology as an aid to improve their performance. He added that sports persons should continue their self-improvement by using technology aided critical analysisof their performance as well as those of top players in the world.Prime Minister expressed happiness in seeing young talents rise from the small towns, rural areas and from poor background and win medals for the nation. He said that there is real potential in the rural areas and we should continue nurturing those talents.He added that the outside world is unaware of the day-to-day struggles, a sports person has to go through.
Prime Minister got emotional while mentioning the names of some sports persons who had to go through immense hardships to be a medal winner for the nation. He saluted their grit and dedication to their disciplines and hoped that the rest of the country would get inspired from their efforts.PM Modi urged the sports persons not to rest based on the laurels achieved and asked them to strive harder for greater glory. He said that the biggest challenge for the medal winners will start now and they should never lose their goal of being in the Olympic Games podium.Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, was present on the occasion. In his opening remarks, Rajyavardhan Rathore said that Prime Minister’s vision and government’s initiatives played a vital role in the improved medal tally and in inspiring young sports persons.India had garnered a record medal haul at the 18thAsian Games held at Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia, by bagging 69 medals, beating the previous best of 65 medals won at Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010.