Olympic finalist Vinesh Phogat, disqualified for being overweight by around 100 grams before the 50k wrestling final at the Paris Olympics, was honoured by Lovely Professional University with a cash award of ₹25 lakh, on par with Olympic silver medallist Neeraj Chopra, at its campus in Phagwara, Punjab, on the National Sports Day.
The founder Chancellor of LPU, Dr. Ashok Mittal, announced that 100 female athletes would be sponsored as a token of appreciation for Vinesh. It was also mentioned that there would be a chapter on Vinesh in LPU’s physical education program.
“If you want to be like me, you have to be mad for sports,” said Vinesh, as she addressed the students.
The LPU had 24 players competing in the Paris Olympics, and 14 of them were at the felicitation function, including members of the bronze winning hockey team.
Hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Hardik Singh, Shamsher Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Manpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh and Jarmanpret Singh were presented ₹15 lakh each.
Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, boxers Lovlina Borgohain, Preeti, Jaismine Lamboria, wrestlers Antim Panghal, Anshu Malik, Nisha, shooter Arjun Singh Cheema, athletes Kiran Pahal, Vikash Singh, Balraj Panwar, Paramjeet Singh, Vikash, apart from archer Dhiraj Bommadevara and Tarundeep Roy were presented ₹5 lakh each for making it to the Olympics.
A purse of ₹10 lakh was presented to the coaches for preparing the athletes at the University.
The other athletes who could not be present, including Neeraj, would be felicitated in the next function.
“We are dedicated to empowering our students to shine on the global stage”, said Dr. Mittal.
It was also announced that suitable job opportunities would be arranged for the Olympians within four years.
