It was a celebration of woman power in sports as Olympic stars PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar were on Monday conferred India's highest sporting honour -- the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- along with shooter Jitu Rai in a gleaming awards ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.
Last month, the ad hoc committee handed Vinesh and Bajrang exemptions from the Asian Games trials.
The wrestlers have been sitting on protest since April 23, demanding the arrest of WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh alleging that he has sexually harassed seven female grapplers, including one minor.
We did not ask for exemption from trials, just asked for time to prepare: Wrestlers
Indian Olympian Vinesh Phogat swaps wrestling arena for politics. Phogat retired from wrestling after she was disqualified ahead of the women's 50 kg freestyle final for failing to make weight.
Days after announcing her decision to return her Khel Ratna and Arjuna award to the Prime Minister, star wrestler Vinesh Phogat left her awards on the pavement of the Kartavya Path in New Delhi.
Bajrang Punia banned, Phogat turns politician, WFI suspension, litigations, and lost medals: How Indian wrestling stagnated in 2024
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The 76kg category had eight wrestlers while the 68kg class featured nine wrestlers, where minnows like Bangladesh, Mauritius, Cameroon, Tonga and New Zealand were part of the field.
The shell-shocked wrestlers returned home and did not speak to the media in Haridwar due to a silence vow.
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The 24-year-old admitted that life has completely transformed after the Olympic medal in Rio and it feels good when people recognise her.
Vinesh Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling, prompting an outpouring of support from the sporting community.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Deaflympics gold medallist Virender Singh Yadav, better known as Goonga Pehlwan, has now decided to return his Padma Shri to the government, showing solidarity with the country's top wrestlers.
Rio Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik, Virat Kohli are in the list
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In an unprecedented move, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting award, will be conferred on four athletes this year. The Sports Ministry announced on Monday that Olympic medalists P V Sindhu and Sakshi Malik will be honoured alongside trail-blazing gymnast Dipa Karmakar and ace shooter Jitu Rai.
Wrestling has not missed a medal at the Olympics since 2008 and Sehrawat's effort ensured the streak remained unbroken.
Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sarita Mor and Sakshi Malik, who staged a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar for three days demanding the sacking of the WFI president, posted identical tweets on the micro-blogging site, expressing their dismay.
A chunk of athletes, including Asian Games medallist Kiran and badminton player Krishna Prasad Garaga have been suspended by NADA
Wrestler Aman Sehrawat added to India's medal tally at the Olympics, winning the bronze in the men's 57kg Freestyle in Paris on Friday. He defeated Puerto Rico's Darian Cruz 13-5.
A few minutes after posting the statement, Vinesh and Sakshi tweeted that they are taking a break from social media for a few days.
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The veteran politician said he spoke to Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia on Tuesday night and promised to visit them at the protest site.
Sakshi Malik ended India's frustrating medal drought with a dramatic bronze-winning effort on Day 12 of the Rio Olympic Games on Wednesday.
On Friday, Sakshi (65kg, silver), Vinesh (53kg, bronze) young Anshu Malik (57kg bronze) and Gursharan Preet kaur (72kg, bronze) added to India's tally.
Newly-appointed Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh on Saturday lashed out at the protesting grapplers for "engaging in politics" and asserted that he is not a dummy candidate of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur asked protesting wrestlers not to take any step that would undermine sports.
Azad, who had joined the protesting wrestlers at the Jantar Mantar on Monday evening but was asked to leave the venue at night by the authorities, returned to the site on Tuesday with his followers.
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Rio Olympics bronze medal-winning wrestler Sakshi Malik wasn't fully prepared for last month's Asian Wrestling Championship, her first international event after the quadrennial games, she revealed.
The Delhi Police had on June 15 filed a report before the court seeking cancellation of the case by the minor wrestler.
'From midnight to 5:30 in the morning, she worked on different cardio machines and wrestling moves, about three-quarters of an hour at one go, with two-three minutes of rest.' 'Then she started again. She collapsed, but somehow we got her up.'
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