Vijender, Sushil, Marykom awarded Khel Ratna

Olympics Bronze medalists boxer Vijender Kumar and wrestler Sushil Kumar, and Indian women boxer and four time world champion MC Marykom were awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna on Saturday at the national capital. For the first time in the history of national sports awards, three sportspersons were individually bestowed India’s highest sporting honour, which comes with an enhanced cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh and a newly-designed statuette. It was also a red letter day for 15 other sportspersons, who received the Arjuna award from President Pratibha Patil at the Ashok Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Prominent among them were cricketer Gautam Gambhir, world number seven badminton player Saina Nehwal, Asian chess champion Tania Sachdev and hockey player Ignace Tirkey. Like the Khel Ratna winners, Arjuna awardees also got a newly-designed statuette, along with citations and an enhanced cash prize of Rs five lakh each