Telangana government hikes reward for Olympic medallists

Hyderabad: An Olympic gold medal winner in Telangana will get Rs 2 crore, a silver medallist Rs 1 crore and bronze metallist Rs 50 lakh. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday raised cash prizes to winners of various sports events.

An Olympic gold medal winner gets a cash award of Rs 25 lakh, Rs 16 lakh for silver and Rs 10 lakh for bronze.

In another move, the government decided not to give any land/house site to medal winners and provide only cash awards from January 4. The awards for medals won in the previous calendar year.

Only medal winners of state sports and games associations affiliated to the Sports Authority of Telangana State will be eligible for cash awards. Sports persons who receive cash awards should display the SATS logo.

“The cash awards are primarily given to motivate the sports person to achieve excellence in their field and to attract the younger generation to take up sports as a career,” B. Venkatesam, Secretary, YATC said.

Besides Olympic Games medallists, all World Championships, cash awards will also be given to medal winners in Para Olympics and Special Olympics, non- Olympic Games played in Telangana State Rural areas according to local popularity.

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