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President greets Asian Games heroes at Rashtrapati Bhavan
President Pratibha Patil admires
the gold medal of Ashwini
Akkunji as other athletes look on
during a meeting with medal
winners of the recently
concluded 16th Asian Games in
China, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in
New Delhi on Saturday.
President Pratibha Patil today
hailed the efforts of Indian
athletes, who brought glory to
the country in the recently-
concluded Asian Games at
Guangzhou and encouraged
them to maintain their golden
run.
During a felicitation ceremony
here at the Rashtrapati Bhavan,
Patil congratulated the Asian
Games gold medal winners and
greeted them with flowers.
However, a notable absentee on
the occasion was the Indian
Olympic Association (IOA) chief
and Commonwealth Games
Organising Committee President
Suresh Kalmadi. It is important
to note that earlier Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh had
also given him a royal snub after
the Delhi Games when he met
the CWG medal winners.
Meanwhile, talking to the
reporters during the function
athletes said they were
overwhelmed by President ’s
gesture and would like to further
improve upon their
performances to put up a better
show during the London
Olympics 2012.
“It is a dream come true. I had
never even imagined that I
would meet the President some
day. The gesture puts an added
responsibility on our shoulders
to improve our performances
and make the country proud in
the forthcoming Olympics,” said
Joseph Abraham, who etched his
name into record books after
becoming the first Indian to grab
gold in the men ’s 400m hurdles
during the recently concluded
Games in China.
Ashwini Akkunji, who raced to
glory with her exemplary golden
double in the women ’s 400m
hurdles and was also a part of
the women ’s 4x400m relay,
expressed her gratitude to the
people of country and said that
without their support she would
not have been able to attain the
feat.
“When I was running it was quite
heartening to see the people of
my country cheering and
supporting me. Although there
were only few Indian fans
present during the event but to
see tears in their eyes after every
run encouraged me and that is
something I can never forget, ”
an elated athlete said.
“I am thankful to my parents
who supported me. The credit
goes to my coaches who
motivated me to go a step
forward, ” added Ashwini.
The small town girl from the
coastal town of Udupi in
Karnataka said she trained really
hard for the Asiad, particularly
for the hurdles, even though she
started just a month before the
Games.
“I never expected a gold in
hurdles as I started my
preparations late for the event.
But I tried to give my best, ”
insisted Ashwini, adding, “I still
need to do a lot of things to
improve and be in the reckoning
for the Olympics. ”
The Indian teen sensation Vikas
Krishan who humbled defending
champion Qing Hu of China to
win India a gold in the
lightweight (60kg) category said,
“ I never expected that one day I
will meet the President, it is just
like a dream and it encourages
me to bring more laurels to the
country. ”
Among others who were present
on the occasion were the gold
medallists of men ’s and women’s
Kabaddi teams apart from
Bajrang Lal Thakkar, who won
India ’s first gold medal in rowing
and gold medal winner in men’s
double trap shooting Ranjan
Sodhi. However, the star Indian
boxer Vijender Singh could not
make it to the function
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