From Neeraj Chopra to Mithali Raj: List of athletes who won Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2021

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of the previous four years. Here's a list of all the players who were conferred with the award this year:

Neeraj Chopra is the first Indian track and field athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympics. 

His efforts enabled him to finish on the top of the Olympic podium at this year's Tokyo Olympics in Javelin throw. He threw the javelin to a distance of 87.58m to pick the yellow metal. 

He has also won Gold Medal at Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018 and Gold Medal at Asian Games, Jakarta 2018.

He was honored with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, 2021 in recognition of his outstanding achievements in Athletics.

(Image credit: Twitter/@rashtrapatibhvn)

The 23-year-old Ravi Kumar Dahiya is an Indian wrestler who rose to fame after winning a silver medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

After Sushil Kumar, he became the second Indian wrestler to earn an Olympic medal. He has also won Gold Medal at Asian Championship in 2020 and Bronze Medal at World Championship in 2019.

He was conferred with Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements in Wrestling.

(Image credit: Twitter/@rashtrapatibhvn)

Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the women's welterweight event, becoming only the third Indian boxer to win a medal at the Olympics. 

She also won Bronze Medal at AIBA World Women Boxing Championship in 2019.

She was conferred with Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in recognition of her outstanding achievements in Boxing.

(Image credit: Twitter/@rashtrapatibhvn)

Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh is the goalkeeper and former captain of the Indian national hockey team. 

Sreejesh played a vital role in the Indian national team's bronze medal win at the 2020 Summer Olympics men's field hockey tournament. 

He was also part of the team that won the Bronze Medal at the Asian Games, Jakarta in 2018.

(Image credit: Twitter/@rashtrapatibhvn)

Avani Lekhara is an Indian Paralympian and rifle shooter. She won a gold medal in 10m air rifle standing and a bronze medal in 50m rifle 3 positions at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. 

She was honoured with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in recognition of her outstanding achievements in the Para Shooting.

(Image credit: Twitter/@rashtrapatibhvn)

Sumit Antil is an Indian Paralympian and javelin thrower. He won a gold medal in the men's javelin throw F64 category at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and has previously won Silver Medal at World Para Athletics Championships, Dubai in 2019.

He was honoured with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the Para Athletics.

(Image credit: Twitter/@rashtrapatibhvn)

Pramod Bhagat is a Para badminton player. He won a gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in Badminton men's singles SL3 and has previously won two Gold Medals in World Para-Badminton Championship in 2019. 

He was awarded Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements in Para-Badminton. 

(Image credit: Twitter/@rashtrapatibhvn)

Manish Narwal is Para-shooter and won a gold medal in 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in the SH1 category. 

He was awarded Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements in Para Shooting.

(Image credit: Twitter/@rashtrapatibhvn)

Mithali Raj is an Indian cricketer and the Test and ODI captain of the women's national cricket team.

She is the highest run-scorer in Women's International Cricket and the only woman cricketer to surpass the 7000 run mark in Women's ODI matches.

She was recognised for her outstanding achievements in cricket.

(Image credit: Twitter/@rashtrapatibhvn)

Sunil Chhetri is a footballer who plays for the Indian National team.

He at present is the second joint-highest international goal-scorer and all-time top goal-scorer for India. He is the most-capped Indian footballer.

He was recognised for his outstanding achievements in football.

(Image credit: Twitter/@rashtrapatibhvn)

Manpreet Singh is the captain of the Indian National Hockey team. He also lead the Indian Hockey team which won Bronze Medal in Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

He was recognised for his outstanding achievements in hockey.

(Image credit: Twitter/@rashtrapatibhvn)

Krishna Nagar is an Indian para-badminton player who won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in men's Singles SH6.

He was awarded Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements in Para-Badminton.

He had to miss the award-winning ceremony because of the sudden demise of his mother.