Star para athlete Devendra Jhajharia was on Tuesday named for the prestigious Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour in the country, while Olympic-gold winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was among the eight sportspersons named for the Padma Shri award.
The 40-year old Jhajharia won two gold medals in the javelin competition of Paralympic Games, 2004 Athens and more recently in Rio 2016.
He won a silver in the F46 event at the Tokyo Paralympics last year.
ADVERTISEMENT
Neeraj, the 24-year-old javelin thrower, made history at the Tokyo Olympics by becoming the first Indian to win a gold in track and field in the Games' history.
The other Padma Shri awardees include 20-year-old para shooter Avani Lekhara, para badminton player Pramod Bhagat and para javelin thrower Sumit Antil.
Also getting the honour was 93-year-old Kalaripayattu (indigenous martial art form) legend Sankaranarayana Menon Chundayil, former international martial arts champion Faisal Ali Dar, the 67-year-old former Indian football team captain Brahmanand Sankhwalkar and 29-year-old women's hockey player Vandana Kataria.
ADVERTISEMENT