| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Indian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 5 January 1954 Palaiyur, Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu, India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ramaswamy Gnanasekaran (born 5 January 1954) is an Indian sprinter. He was the gold medalist in the 200 metres in the 1978 Asian Games. He later became a coach. He was given the Arjuna Award for athletics in 1978-79. [1] [2] [3]
The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one of the characters of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata of ancient India. In Hinduism, he has been seen as a symbol of hard work, dedication and concentration. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Before the introduction of the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 1991–1992, the Arjuna award was the highest sporting honour of India. The nominations for the award are received from all government recognised National Sports Federations, the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Sports Promotion and Control Boards, the state and the union territory governments and the Major Dhyan Chandra Khel Ratna, Arjuna, Dhyan Chand and Dronacharya awardees of the previous years. The recipients are selected by a committee constituted by the Ministry and are honoured for their "good performance in the field of sports over a period of four years" at the international level and for having shown "qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline." As of 2020, the award comprises "a bronze statuette of Arjuna, certificate, ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of ₹15 lakh (US$18,000)."
Pullela Gopichand is an Indian former badminton player. Currently, he is the Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001, becoming the second Indian to achieve this feat after Prakash Padukone. He runs the Gopichand Badminton Academy. He received the Arjuna Award in 1999, the Khel Ratna Award in 2001, the Dronacharya Award in 2009 and the Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award – in 2014. He is the only Indian coach to win the "Honorable Mention" by the International Olympic Committee at the 2019 Coaches Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Achanta Sharath Kamal is an Indian professional table tennis player. He is the first Indian table tennis player ever to become ten time Senior National Champion hence breaking the record of eight-time National Champion Kamlesh Mehta. In 2019 he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award and in 2022, he was awarded the Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honour. He is ranked 32 in ITTF world ranking. He beat Joo Se Hyuk and Chuang Chih-yuan, world no. 8 and 16 respectively in 2015 28th Asian cup at Jaipur. Sharath won the men's singles gold in the 16th Commonwealth table tennis championship held at Kuala Lumpur in 2004. He is a recipient of the Arjuna award for the year 2004.
Yousuf Khan was an Indian footballer who represented India national team at the 1960 Summer Olympics. He was one of only two Indians to have been included in the 1965 Asian All Stars XI. He was also a part of the team which won the 1962 Asian Games.
Soma Biswas is an Indian former athlete from West Bengal who represented India in the heptathlon. She rose to fame when she won the silver medal in 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. She won another silver medal at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. She won the 110m hurdles, the 200m and the 800m during that heptathlon. Biswas worked with Kuntal Rai and several foreign coaches.
Virdhawal Vikram Khade is an Indian swimmer. He competed in the men's 50, 100, and 200 meters Freestyle swimming events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, setting an Indian national record in 100 meters Freestyle. He failed to qualify for the semifinals in his events despite winning his qualification heat. Khade won a bronze medal in the 50 meters butterfly event at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou; it was India's first Asian Games medal in swimming in 24 years. He was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2011 by the Government of India.
Satpal Singh, also known as Guru Satpal, is a wrestling coach and former wrestler of India. He was a gold medalist in 1982 Asian Games and a bronze medalist in 1974 Asian Games. Today he is better known as the coach of Olympic medal winners Sushil Kumar and Ravi Kumar Dahiya.
Prasun Banerjee is an Indian former professional footballer and politician who is serving as an MP in the Lok Sabha from Howrah. He is an Arjuna Award winner (1979). Younger brother of the Pradip Kumar Banerjee, Prasun had also captained the India national football team in international tournaments.
Deepa Malik is an Indian para athlete from Haryana. She is the first Indian woman to win a medal in Paralympic Games. She won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in shot put.
Amalraj Anthony Arputharaj is a professional table tennis player from Tamil Nadu India. He won the silver medal at 2014 Commonwealth Games in doubles with Sharath Kamal.
Subedar Arokia Rajiv is an Indian sprinter and a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in Indian Army who specialises in the 400 metres distance. He won silver medals in the men's and mixed 4 × 400 m relays at the 2018 Asian Games and placed third in the individual 400 m in 2014. He won medals in both the 400 m and 4 × 400 m events at the 2016 South Asian Games and 2017 Asian Championships. He competed in the relay at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the Men's 4 × 400 m relay event where the Indian team broke the Asian and National Records and clocked a time of 3:00.25.
Mohammed Habib was an Indian footballer who played as a forward for the India national team which he also captained. He is also considered by many Indians as one of the best footballers the country has ever produced. He was popularly known as Bade Mia in the Indian football world.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran is an Indian table tennis player, who is the highest ranked Indian men's singles player in the sport, currently ranked at 73 in the world as of October 2024. He was a member of the Indian team that won back to back gold medals in the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Varun Singh Bhati is a para high jumper from India. He was afflicted by poliomyelitis at a young age, and joined sports during his school days. He has won several medals in international events including bronze at 2016 Summer Paralympic Games and 2017 World Para Athletics Championships.
Manika Batra is an Indian table tennis player. She is a triple gold medalist at the South Asian Games, a double gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games, and a bronze medalist at the Asian Games, Asian Championships, and Asian Cup. She is India's number two in women and her world rank is 26 as of Oct 2024.
Subedar Major Neeraj Chopra is an Indian track and field athlete. Considered as the greatest Indian javelin thrower, he's a double medalist at the Olympics, World Championships, and the Asian Games. He has won the Diamond League once. Chopra won the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics, becoming the first Asian javelin throw athlete to do so. He became the first Asian to win a gold in javelin at the World Championships after his win in 2023. Chopra has won gold medals in every major tournament. He has a podium finish streak in 24 consecutive competitions, dating back to 2020. Since his performance at the 2016 World U20 Championship, he continues to hold the junior javelin throw world record.
Mariyappan Thangavelu is an Indian Paralympic high jumper. He is a triple Paralympics medalist having won the gold medal at 2016 Rio, the silver medal at 2020 Tokyo and the bronze medal at 2024 Paris. He has also been a double medalist at the World Championships with one gold and one bronze. Additionally, he is an Asian Para Games silver medalist.
Harmeet Desai is an Indian table tennis player. He is from Surat. In 2018 Commonwealth Games held at Gold Coast, Australia, He won gold in men's team event with Sharath Kamal, Anthony Amalraj, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran & Sanil Shetty and bronze in Men's doubles event with Sanil Shetty. Harmeet Desai won the men's singles title at Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships 2019 at Cuttack, defeated favorite Sathiyan Gnanasekaran to claim the men's singles title. He has been honoured with the Arjuna Award by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India in 2019.
Murali Sreeshankar is an Indian athlete who competes in the long jump event. He created a national record of 8.36 metres set in 2022.
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