Sports Awards Winners Tracker
The National Sports Awards are conferred annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India. The President of India honors the awardees at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. These awards recognize sustained athletic excellence, leadership, outstanding coaching, and institutional contribution over specific evaluation windows.
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award
Core Institutional Features
This is the highest sporting honor in India. It was instituted in 1991–92 as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and renamed in 2021 after hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand. The award evaluates spectacular and most outstanding performance by a sportsperson over a period of the preceding four years. The prize includes a medallion, a certificate, and a cash component of ₹25 lakh.
Latest Recipients and Key Accomplishments
The latest iteration of the National Sports Awards celebrated major achievements from the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic cycles along with historic international breakthroughs.
| Sportsperson | Discipline | Key Historical Milestone / Stat for Prelims |
| Gukesh D | Chess | Won the 2024 World Chess Championship in Singapore, becoming the youngest world chess champion in history and only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand. Led India to gold at the Budapest Chess Olympiad. |
| Manu Bhaker | Shooting | First athlete from independent India to win two medals at a single Olympic Games (Bronze in Women’s 10m Air Pistol and Bronze in 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team at Paris 2024). |
| Harmanpreet Singh | Hockey | Captain of the Indian men’s field hockey team who led the nation to its second consecutive Olympic bronze medal at Paris 2024, emerging as the tournament’s top scorer with 10 goals. |
| Praveen Kumar | Para-Athletics | Clinched the Gold medal in the men’s high jump T64 category at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, setting an Asian record clearance of 2.08m. This marked his second consecutive Paralympic medal after a silver at Tokyo 2020. |
Arjuna Award for Outstanding Performance
Core Institutional Features
Instituted in 1961, the Arjuna Award recognizes sportspersons who exhibit consistent outstanding performance over the preceding four years, alongside qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, and a strict sense of discipline. It carries a cash prize of ₹15 lakh, a bronze statue of Arjuna, and a scroll.
Regular Category Awardees
The latest cohort heavily featured medal winners from the Paris 2024 Olympics, Paralympics, and Asian Games, emphasizing a significant surge in elite para-sports representation.
- Athletics: Jyothi Yarraji (hurdler), Annu Rani (javelin thrower).
- Boxing: Nitu Ghanghas, Saweety Boora.
- Chess: Vantika Agrawal.
- Hockey: Salima Tete (Indian women’s team captain), Abhishek, Sanjay, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh.
- Para-Archery: Rakesh Kumar.
- Para-Athletics: Preeti Pal, Jeevanji Deepthi, Ajeet Singh, Sachin Sarjerao Khilari, Dharambir, Pranav Soorma, Hokato Hotozhe Sema, Simran Sharma, Navdeep Singh.
- Para-Badminton: Nitesh Kumar, Thulasimathi Murugesan, Nithya Sre Sivan, Manisha Ramadass.
- Para-Judo: Kapil Parmar.
- Para-Shooting: Mona Agarwal, Rubina Francis.
- Shooting: Swapnil Kusale (Paris Olympics Bronze medalist), Sarabjot Singh (Paris Olympics Bronze medalist).
- Squash: Abhay Singh.
- Swimming: Sajan Prakash.
- Wrestling: Aman Sehrawat (Paris Olympics Bronze medalist).
Arjuna Award (Lifetime Category)
This division recognizes retired sportspersons who have contributed to sports through their performance during their active career and continue to promote sports post-retirement.
- Athletics: Sucha Singh.
- Para-Swimming: Murlikant Rajaram Petkar. He holds the distinction of being India’s first ever Paralympic gold medalist, winning the 50m freestyle swimming event at the 1972 Heidelberg Games.
Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches
Core Institutional Features
Instituted in 1985, the Dronacharya Award honors coaches who produce meritorious work on a consistent basis, enabling sportspersons to excel in high-level international events. The regular category cash prize is ₹10 lakh, while the lifetime category carries a cash component of ₹15 lakh.
Regular Category Winners
- Para-Shooting: Subhash Rana.
- Shooting: Deepali Deshpande.
- Hockey: Sandeep Sangwan.
Lifetime Category Winners
- Badminton: S. Muralidharan.
- Football: Armando Agnelo Colaco.
Institutional Performance and University Trophies
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy
Instituted in 1956–57, this running trophy is awarded annually to the overall top-performing university in inter-university tournaments and events like the Khelo India University Games.
- Overall Winner: Chandigarh University.
- First Runner-Up: Lovely Professional University, Punjab.
- Second Runner-Up: Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar
Instituted in 2009, this award is given to corporate entities (both private and public sector), Sports Control Boards, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that have played a visible role in the promotion and development of sports.
- Recipient: Physical Education Foundation of India (PEFI), recognized for its extensive contribution toward the grassroots promotion of physical literacy and athletic training infrastructure.
