MOC Approves Training and Competition Support for Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Athletes

The Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has extended its support to several Indian athletes preparing for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The MOC has approved proposals from renowned sportspersons, including wrestler Vinesh Phogat, pistol shooter Arjun Cheema, paddler Manika Batra, and boxer Lovlina Borgohain.

Vinesh Phogat, a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist, has received financial assistance for a competition and training camp in Madrid, Spain, followed by a training camp in Boulogne sur-Mer, France. She will compete in the Grand Prix in Spain in July before spending a week in training there. She will then head to Boulogne sur-Mer, France, for a 20-day training camp ahead of the Olympic Games.

Pistol shooter Arjun Cheema has also secured approval for an 11-day training camp in Austria. The MOC has also approved overseas training camps for Indian javelin throwers Ajeet Singh and Sandeep Choudhary, who will train in Germany for 45 and 41 days, respectively.

Para-Club and Discus Thrower Pranav Soorma's request for assistance under the Target Olympics Podium Scheme (TOPS) to compete in the Para Athletics Championship in Krusevac, Serbia, and train for 10 days at the same location has also been approved.

Triple jumper Eldhose Paul, boxer Lovlina Borgohain, and table tennis players Sreeja Akula and Manika Batra have also received assistance to compete in various international tournaments. Manika Batra's proposal for assistance towards the purchase of a DHS Table to train in India and Para-Athlete Bhagyashree Jadhav's proposal for assistance towards procurement of wheelchair and shot-put equipment were also sanctioned.

Wrestler Antim Panghal's request for assistance towards the boarding and lodging of her coach during the UWW 2nd Ranking Series and the training camp at Olympic Training Centre, Tata, Hungary, and badminton players Rakshitha Sree and Anmol Kharab's request for assistance to compete in the Kaohsiung Masters (BWF super 100) event were also approved.

In addition, the MOC has promoted five TOPS Athletes to the Core Group from the Development Group. These are boxers Nishant Dev, Jaismine Lamboria, and Preeti Pawar as well as table Tennis players Manav Thakkar and Archana Kamath.

Tags: #Paris2024, #Olympics, #Paralympics, #VineshPhogat, #ArjunCheema