Manu, Gukesh Get Khel Ratnas

Record 17 para-athletes in the list of 32 Arjuna awardees

Double Olympic-medallist Manu Bhaker and chess world champion D Gukesh were among four winners of the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award announced by the Sports Ministry, which also named an unprecedented 17 para-athletes in the list of 32 Arjuna awardees to honour their resounding success at the Paris Paralympics.

The other two Khel Ratna winners unveiled by the ministry on Thursday for the year 2024 were men's hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh and para-athlete Praveen Kumar.

The awards will be conferred on the athletes by President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 17.

The 22-year-old Bhaker became independent India's first athlete to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympics with her bronze-winning show in the 10m air pistol individual and 10m air pistol mixed team events in August.

The announcement comes a few days after reports that Bhaker had been ignored for the Khel Ratna as the award selection committee did not recommend her due to the absence of an application from her.