The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games is a sports honour of Republic of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Before the introduction of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1991–1992, the Arjuna Award was the highest sporting honour of India. , the award comprises "a bronze statuette of Arjuna, certificate, ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of ".

Name The award is named after Arjuna, a character from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata of ancient India. He is one of the Pandavas, depicted as a skilled archer, winning the hand of Draupadi in marriage, and, in the Kurukshetra War, Lord Krishna becomes his charioteer, teaching him the sacred knowledge of Gita. In Hindu mythology, he has been seen as a symbol of hard work, dedication and concentration.

History Instituted in 1961 to honour the outstanding sportspersons of the country, the award over the years has undergone a number of expansions, reviews, and rationalizations. The award was expanded to include all the recognised disciplines in 1977, has introduced indigenous games and physically handicapped categories in 1995 and introduced a lifetime contribution category in 1995 leading to creation of a separate Dhyan Chand Award in 2002. The latest revision in 2018 stipulates that the award is given only to the disciplines included in the events like Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championship and World Cup along with Cricket, Indigenous Games, and Parasports. It also recommends giving only fifteen awards in a year, relaxing in case of excellent performance in major multi-sport events, team sports, across gender and giving away of at least one award to physically challenged category.

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 Rajiv Gandhi 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 international level and for having shown "qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline".

Recipients A total of 147 awards were presented in the 1980s thirteen in 1980–1981, followed by sixteen in 1981, twenty in 1982, nineteen in 1983, fifteen in 1984, nineteen in 1985, thirteen in 1986, fifteen in 1987, five in 1988 and twelve in 1989. Individuals from thirty-three different sports were awarded, which includes nineteen from athletics, ten each from hockey and cricket, seven each from boxing, mountaineering and weightlifting, six each from chess, wrestling and yachting, five each from kho kho, shooting, swimming, table tennis and volleyball, four each from billiards & snooker, equestrian, football and kabaddi, three each from golf, three each from adventure sports, badminton and basketball, two each from archery, golf, gymnastics, lawn tennis, polo, powerlifting and rowing, and one each from ball badminton, bodybuilding, cycling, roller skating and squash.

Amongst the notable winners were P. T. Usha (awarded in 1983), nicknamed "queen of track and field". In 1984 Los Angeles Olympics she missed the bronze medal by one-hundredth of a second in 400 metres hurdles, and in 1985 Asian Athletics Championships held in Indonesia, she won five gold medals and a bronze medal. Bachendri Pal (awarded in 1984), became the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest in 1984, after which she led a number of expeditions including the 1993 Indo-Nepalese Women's Everest Expedition. Viswanathan Anand (awarded in 1985) became India's first-ever chess grandmaster in 1988. He would go on to become the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000 and subsequently undisputed World Chess Champion four times in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2012. Geet Sethi (awarded in 1985) was a professional English billiards player. He dominated the sport for much of 1990s, becoming the world champion eight times and setting two world records.

List of Recipients

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+ KeyIndicates Para sports

+ List of Arjuna award recipients, showing the year, sport, and gender Year Recipient Sport Gender1980–1981 Boxing Male1980–1981 Cricket Male1980–1981 Table Tennis Male1980–1981 Football Male1980–1981 Kabaddi Male1980–1981 Chess Female1980–1981 Cricket Male1980–1981 Lawn Tennis Male1980–1981 Badminton Male1980–1981 Hockey Female1980–1981 Athletics Male1980–1981 Hockey Male1980–1981 Wrestling Male1981 Mountaineering Female1981 Athletics Male1981 Mountaineering Female1981 Shooting Male1981 Archery Female1981 Yachting Male1981 Football Male1981 Boxing Male1981 Kabaddi Female1981 Mountaineering Male1981 Kho Kho Female1981 Weightlifting Male1981 Mountaineering Female1981 Hockey Female1981 Kho Kho Male1981 Cricket Male1982 Cricket Male1982 Badminton Female1982 Athletics Male1982 Equestrian Male1982 Table Tennis Male1982 Badminton Male1982 Squash Female1982 Swimming Female1982 Athletics Male1982 Basketball Male1982 Wrestling Male1982 Boxing Male1982 Golf Male1982 Equestrian Male1982 Weightlifting Male1982 Volleyball Male1982 Yachting Male1982 Yachting Male1982 Yachting Male1982 Athletics Female1983 Billiards & Snooker Male1983 Cycling Female1983 Chess Male1983 Weightlifting Male1983 Cricket Female1983 Hockey Male1983 Kabaddi Female1983 Shooting Male1983 Football Female1983 Kho Kho Female1983 Boxing Male1983 Volleyball Female1983 Basketball Female1983 Basketball Male1983 Polo Male1983 Swimming Male1983 Rowing Male1983 Athletics Female1983 Athletics Male1984 Athletics Female1984 Snooker Male1984 Powerlifting Male1984 Volleyball Female1984 Hockey Female1984 Equestrian Male1984 Mountaineering Male1984 Athletics Male1984 Rowing Male1984 Mountaineering Male1984 Kho Kho Male1984 Ball Badminton Male1984 Cricket Male1984 Swimming Male1984 Chess Male1985 Athletics Female1985 Lawn Tennis Male1985 Chess Male1985 Athletics Male1985 Weightlifting Male1985 Mountaineering Male1985 Shooting Female1985 Kho Kho Female1985 Cricket Female1985 Hockey Male1985 Table Tennis Male1985 Shooting Male1985 Adventure Sports Male1985 Billiards & Snooker Male1985 Gymnastics Female1985 Swimming Male1985 Wrestling Male1985 Hockey Female1985 Athletics Male1986 Cricket Female1986 Cricket Male1986 Yachting Male1986 Hockey Male1986 Bodybuilding Male1986 Adventure Sports Male1986 Adventure Sports Male1986 Athletics Female1986 Shooting Male1986 Weightlifting Male1986 Kabaddi Female1986 Boxing Male1986 Volleyball Male1987 Equestrian Male1987 Weightlifting Male1987 Polo Male1987 Boxing Male1987 Golf Female1987 Table Tennis Female1987 Roller Skating Male1987 Yachting Male1987 Chess Male1987 Athletics Female1987 Athletics Female1987 Athletics Male1987 Athletics Male1987 Chess Female1987 Wrestling Male1988 Swimming Male1988 Wrestling Male1988 Athletics Female1988 Hockey Male1988 Powerlifting Male1989 Volleyball Male1989 Football Male1989 Boxing Male1989 Weightlifting Female1989 Athletics Female1989 Cricket Male1989 Archery Male1989 Billiards & Snooker Male1989 Gymnastics Female1989 Table Tennis Female1989 Hockey Male1989 Wrestling Male

Explanatory notes

References

External links Official website