Sports Minister Anurag Thakur to flag off first batch of Indian athletes for Tokyo Olympics

With the Tokyo Olympics starting within a week, the ceremonial farewell ceremony will take place at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport today as the first batch of athletes depart for Tokyo from India. A contingent of 88 comprising 54 athletes, support staff and representatives of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) will be given a ceremonial farewell at an event by Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur and Minister of State for MYOS Nisith Pramanik.

He will be joined by IOA President Narinder Dhruv Batra; IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta and Sports Authority of India Director General Sandeep Pradhan at the ceremony.

Athletes and support staff in eight sports, archery, hockey, badminton, table tennis, archery, judo, gymnastics and weightlifting, will depart New Delhi today, with the largest contingent of hockey.

To ensure the safety of the athletes, all the dignitaries participating in the event will have their own COVID test. Only those with negative reports will attend the program. All social distancing measures have also been taken on this occasion.