Bollywood actor and Indian Olympic contingent ambassador Salman Khan and music composer AR Rahman met the Indian athletes at an event organised by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in New Delhi on Monday.
The event was hosted by the IOA to give a send-off to all the Indian athletes who will be participating in the event. Along with the actor, IOA officials were also present. The event was hosted by sports anchor Charu Sharma.
Athletes such as tennis star Sania Mirza, wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Vinod Tomar, gymnast Dipa Karmakar and young table tennis star Manika Batra were all present at the ceremony. Salman Khan greeted the athletes with best wishes ahead of the Olympics.
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The actor said that he had previously met some of the athletes in April 2016, when he was announced as the ambassador but he added that it was the first time he had met the whole contingent. He motivated the contingent by asking them to go to the Games, give their best shot, and leave everything else on the almighty.
The actor also added that he came to the capital for the special event because he has a tremendous amount of respect for all those who will be representing the nation. Whereas, music composer AR Rahman said that sports and music are the two things that unify the nation.
The composer also stated that he believes in the athletes and that nothing is impossible for them to achieve at the Games. He concluded his speech with the strong message that nothing can stop the athletes now from winning medals.
The short event saw all the athletes meeting the actor and composer before they leave for the 2016 Rio Olympics. But the most notable name missing from the event was that of Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt who previously criticised the decision of making Salman Khan the ambassador for the Games.
In April 2016, the wrestler had shown his criticism by tweeting that it was not fair to make a person such as Salman Khan the ambassador. He had written that athletes like PT Usha and Milkha Singh, who have worked hard for the country during tough times, should have been considered. He had also questioned the actor’s contribution to the field of sports.
