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Two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar, the only Indian athlete to have ever achieved the feat, has lashed out at the policy makers of the country for being ignored yet again for the prestigious Padma Bhushan – an award he truly deserved.
“I am the only double Olympic medalist in the country. I cant understand the reason that I did not get the Padma Bhushan. There should be some criteria for getting such an award. Leander Paes and Gopichand have deservedly got the award as they are senior sportsperson than me. Though I do not pay much attention to such things, it goes on in life but government should have taken into account performance and achievement along with seniority,” Sushil told Headlines Today/Aajtak.
Sushil Kumar is one of the most successful sportsmen in India’s history. Sushil claimed a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and followed it up with a silver medal in the 2012 London Olympics. Sushil is also the first and only Indian to win a gold medal at World Wrestling Championships, a feat which he achieved in 2010 at Moscow.
The entire wrestling community and many of the former Olympians are miffed at Sushil being denied the award.
Olympians Anuj Chaudhary and Rajiv Tomar said Sushil deserved to get Bharat Ratna along with Sachin Tendulkar but it is a national shame that he has not been awarded even Padma Bhushan.
“People who have no Olympic achievements have been given Padma Sree and Padma Bhushan but India’s greatest ever Olympian is denied a richly deserved award is beyond any logical comprehension,” they said.
The Padma Bhushan is the country’s third highest civilian honour behind the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan. The recipients of the award are announced every year on Republic Day with the awardees then being conferred the award by the President of India at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan sometime around March or April.
The recipients of the Padma Bhushan for 2014 from the field of sport are tennis legend Leander Paes and Pulella Gopichand, former winner of the All England badminton championships.
