New Sports Minister Mandaviya meets IOA chief Usha to review Olympic preparations
PTC News Desk: IOA President PT Usha and recently appointed Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya met in New Delhi on Thursday to discuss India's Olympic preparations.
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new NDA government took office on June 9, Mr. Mandaviya assumed leadership of the ministry on June 11. Anurag Thakur was replaced in the role by Mr. Mandaviya.
Mr. Mandaviya was told about the nation's preparations for the Paris Games at the more than hour-long meeting, which was also attended by the newly appointed Minister of State for Sports, Raksha Khadse, Sports Secretary Sujata Chaturvedi, and Director General Sandip Pradhan of the Sports Authority of India.
"Today was my first visit with IOA officials, who gave me an update on India's Olympic preparations in Paris. "The government is dedicated to providing every conceivable assistance," Mandaviya declared in a brief statement to the press.
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Usha reported that the meeting with the minister had gone well, but she withheld specifics.
"Today, the Minister of State for Sports and the Minister of Sports visited IOA, and I'm delighted they were interested in learning about IOA and the plans for Paris.
This time, we did everything correctly, and I've informed him. I hope that this would benefit our Olympic athletes, and we will be in touch once a week," she stated.
Usha believed that India's delegation will number more over 100 this time, just like at the Tokyo Games.
"We have taken care of athletes in every way. We have complied with the players' requests this time. We thus anticipate winning more medals than in Tokyo. I don't want to give the players stress by placing any numbers.
"Already, 97 athletes have qualified and we are expecting around 115 to 120 athletes in all to represent India in Paris Olympics," the renowned athlete stated. This year's Paris Olympics will take place from July 26 to August 11.
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- With inputs from agencies
