Indian Railways on Sunday said that it was a matter of pride that 40 per cent of gold medals for India, 10 out of 26 in the recently concluded Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, were won by Railway athletes.
The Indian contingent, with 66 medals in all, turned in its finest performance ever at the CWG games standing third in the medals tally.
Railway officials said that the results convincingly proved the public transporter’s sports motto “Think Sports, Think Railways”.
“It is a matter of great pride that forming 25 per cent of the Indian contingent, Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) athletes clinched 40 per cent of the total golds won by India. Railway athletes won 10 Golds, one Silver and four Bronze medals in the CWG games,” Rekha Yadav, Executive Director, and RSPB Secretary, said in a statement.
The RSPB, this year, will be celebrating 90 years of its inception, said officials.
She said that 49 athletes from RSPB participated in the CWG 2018 Games in disciplines like weightlifting, wrestling, hockey, athletics, basketball and gymnastics.
“Almost the entire women’s hockey team comprised Railway girls,” she said.
All seven wrestlers from the RSPB won medals and came back with a 100 per cent strike rate, including five Gold medals won by Sushil Kumar, Rahul Aware, Sumit Malik, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, and Sakshi Malik and Kiran Bishnoi bagging a Bronze each.
In weightlifting, six out of 10 Railways’ lifters won a medal for India. While Mirabai Chanu, Sangita Chanu, Poonam Yadav, Satish Sivalingam and RV Rahul won Gold, Pradeep Singh bagged a Silver.
Pugilist Manoj Kumar, of the Railways, won a Bronze medal and Navjeet Dhillon put up a spirited performance winning a Bronze in the Discuss throw.
“The RSPB not only provides a sustainable source of livelihood through its liberal recruitment policies, but also nurtures sportspersons with round the year training, camps, diet, medical support, even during their post playing years,” Yadav said.
She said that excellent infrastructure spread across its network nationwide, and a stellar team of in-house coaches and support staff, had given the RSPB an unparallelled ecosystem for 29 sporting disciplines under its belt.
“We have single-handedly supported the rise of women in sports in the country. We have empowered and encouraged young girls to pursue sports,’ she said.
Yadav informed that the RSPB was one of the first organisations to raise a women’s wrestling team in India.
Incentives to athletes, like out of turn promotions, increments, off-season training, 330 days special Casual Leave for outstanding athletes, three to four camps followed by tournament exposure have paid rich dividends, she said.
