Congratulatory messages came pouring in for the medal duo of Rio Paralympics.
Writing on his twitter handle, the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi wrote,” India is elated! Congratulations to Mariyappan Thangavelu on winning a gold & Varun Singh Bhati for the bronze at the #Paralympics.”
The Indian Cricket Legend and Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar wrote on his twitter handle,” Congratulations on your medals at the #Paralympics #MariyappanThangavelu & #VarunBhati. Your strength & spirit is commendable. Keep shining!”
The Rio Olympics quarter-finalist Badminton player and his co-athlete at GoSports Foundation, Kidambi Srikanth tweeted,”Congratulations to #MariyappanThangavelu and fellow #GoSportsAthlete @defying190 on their medals yest! We all are proud Indians today!”.
The Indian President Mr. Pranab Mukherjee also congratulated the medal duo of the 2016 Paralympics in a press release dated today.
It was all the sphere of India which went elated with the performance of the two para-athletes, be it cinema, be it cricket, be it polity or be it sports in general- wishes and congratulatory messages were exchanged all over the social media handles.
In line with the congratulatory messages came the cash reward when the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalithaa announced a Rs 2 crore award for Mariyappan Thangavelu, for his Gold Medal leap at the Rio Paralympics.
In a statement released today, Ms. Jayalalithaa said, “By leaping over a height of 1.89 metres, you have leapt into history and done both the Nation and the State of Tamil Nadu proud. Your achievement, overcoming several obstacles and hurdles, will inspire more and more children and youth to overcome adversities and to participate and strive for greater achievements.”
The Sports Ministry had already announced before the start of the Paralympics that under their Cash Award Scheme, a Gold Medalist will get Rs 75 lakhs, a Silver medalist will get 50 lakhs while a Bronze winner get 30 lakhs- which means Mariyappan will get Rs 75 lakh and Bhati will be presented Rs 30 lakh for their feats. The Cash Award Scheme of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is same for both Olympics and Paralympics performances.