Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Winners

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Winners

Download Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Winners PDF at the bottom of this post.

What is Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award?

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is the top most sporting honour in India. The prestigious sport award was instituted in 1991–92. It is given to the individuals for their spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports over a period of four years at international level. The award is given annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Info About The Sports Minister of India

Rathore

Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is the present Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Youth Affairs And Sports. He is a former professional shooter. He won a silver medal in the 2004 Olympic Games. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Rathore won a Gold Medal. He set a new Commonwealth Games Record of 192 targets out of 200, which still stands. Rathore was awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2004 and the Padma Shri in 2005. He was elected as a MP in the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Jaipur Rural constituency.

Who is Rajiv Gandhi?

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award is named after Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India who served the office from 1984 to 1989. Rajiv Gandhi was born in Bombay on 20 August 1944 to Indira and Feroze Gandhi. In 1968, after three years of courtship, he married Edvige Antonia Albina Màino, who changed her name to Sonia Gandhi and made India her home. Rajiv become the youngest Indian Prime Minister at the age of 40.  In 1991 the Indian government posthumously awarded Gandhi the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award.

What’s in Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award?

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award WinnersAs of 2017, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardee will receive a cash prize of Rs. 7.5 lakh, a medal and a citation. In 2017, Justice C.K. Thakkar (former Judge Supreme Court of India, Chief Justice of High Court of Himachal and Bombay) headed the Selection Committee for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Arjuna Awards.

How does GOI select Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Winners?

Initially, the award was presented for the outstanding performance in the field of sports for a period of one year. The duration was revised to four years from 2015. A committee comprising twelve members evaluates the performances of a sportsperson at various International events like Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games. The committee submits their recommendations to the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports for further approval.


Complete List of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Winners

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Winners


As of 2017, there have been thirty-four recipients from different sport disciplines.

S No YEAR RAJIV GANDHI KHEL RATNA AWARD WINNERS SPORT DISCIPLINES
01  1991 Viswanathan Anand Chess
 02  1992  Geet Sethi  Billiards
 03  1993  Homi Motivala &  Garg Pushpendra Kumar Yachting (Team Event)
 04  1994   Karnam Malleswari  Weight Lifting
 05  1995  Nameirakpam Kunjarani  Weight Lifting
 07  1996   Leander Paes  Tennis
 08  1997   Sachin Tendulkar  Cricket
 09  1998  Jyotirmoyee Sikdar  Athletics
 10  1999  Dhanraj Pillay  Hockey
 11  2001  Pullela Gopichand

Abhinav Bindra

 Badminton

Shooting

 12  2002 KM Beenamol

Anjali Bhagwat

Athletics

Shooting

 13  2003 Anju Bobby George Athletics
14 2004 Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore Shooting
15 2005 Pankaj Advani Billiards and Snooker
 16  2006  Manavjit Singh Sandhu  Shooting
 17  2007   Mahendra Singh Dhoni  Cricket
 18  2009  Mary Kom

Vijender Singh

Sushil Kumar

 Boxing (Women)

Boxing (Men)

Wrestling

 19  2010  Saina Nehwal  Badminton
 20  2011  Gagan Narang  Shooting
 21  2012   Vijay Kumar

Yogeshwar Dutt

 Shooting

Wrestling

 22  2013  Ronjan Sodhi  Shooting
 23  2015  Sania Mirza  Tennis
 24  2016  P. V. Sindhu

Dipa Karmakar

Jitu Rai

Sakshi Malik

 Badminton

Gymnastics

Shooting

Wrestling

 25  2017  Devendra Jhajharia

Sardara Singh

Para Athlete

Hockey

Download PDF Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Winners

Tidbits about Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Winners
  • Pankaj Advani is the only sportsperson to have won the award for two sports disciplines; Billiards and Snooker.
  • The first recipient of the award Viswanathan Anand is country’s first chess Grandmaster and a five time winner of World Chess Championship.
  • In 2001, sport shooter Abhinav Bindra became the youngest recipient of the award.
  • Dhanraj Pillay’s biography, Forgive Me Amma, written by journalist Sundeep Misra, who tracked his career for over two decades, released in 2007.
  • Leander Paes competed in consecutive Olympic appearances from 1992 to 2016, making him the first Indian and only tennis player to compete at seven Olympic Games.
  • Mary Kom’s autobiography – Unbreakable.
  • At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Sakshi Malik won the bronze medal in the 58 kg category, becoming the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics and the fourth female Olympic medalist from the country.
  • Dipa Kamarkar is the first Indian female gymnast ever to compete in the Olympics. Karmakar successfully landed the Produnova, one of the most difficult vault position.

 

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