The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award has been renamed as Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
Context
The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award has been renamed as Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
About Dhyan Chand
- He was the first superstar of hockey and considered a wizard or magician of the game.
- Under his leadership, India won three consecutive Olympic hockey gold medals:
- Amsterdam 1928
- Los Angeles 1932
- Berlin 1936
- He amazed the watching public with sublime skills, intricate dribbling and gluttonous scoring ability.
- India beat hosts the Netherlands 3-0 in 1928 final, the United States by a scarcely-believable margin of 24-1 in the 1932 gold medal match, while Germany by 8-1 in the 1936 decider.
- In all, Dhyan Chand played 12 Olympic matches and scored 33 goals.
- His birthday, on August 29, is celebrated as National Sports Day and the President gives away the Khel Ratna, Arjuna Awards and the other honourson this day.
- The Capital’s National Stadium was renamed Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.
Major Dhyan Chand KhelRatna Award in Sports and Games
- It was formerly known as Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna.
- This is the highest sporting honour of the Republic of India.
- It is awarded by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, annually.
- The award was instituted in 1991–1992, which is given for the performance by a sportsperson in a year.
- Based on the suggestions provided by the award selection committee, the Ministry revised the criteria in February 2015 to consider the performance over four years.
- A twelve-member committee evaluates the performances at various International events like Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games.
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