Lovely Professional University (LPU) will be rewarding its students and Olympic medallists Neeraj Chopra and Bajrang Punia after their heroics at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Chopra created history by becoming the first Indian to bag an Olympic gold medal in athletics for the country while Punia won a bronze medal in wrestling.
Chopra, who is pursuing Bachelors in Arts (B.A.) from the university, will be awarded Rs 50 lakh while Punia, who is pursuing his MA at the university, will be awarded Rs 10 lakh for winning medals for India at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. While Chopra brought an end to India’s 100-year-long wait for a medal in athletics at the Olympics, Punia continued the tradition of Indian wrestlers dominating at the showpiece event.
Chopra, who was one of the favourites heading into the final of men’s javelin, threw the javelin an impressive 87.58m to seal the gold medal for India. He became the first athlete to win an Olympic medal for India in athletics post Independence. He is also only the second Indian to win a gold medal at the Olympics in an individual event after shooter Abhinav Bindra, who clinched the yellow metal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Punia, on the other hand, lost his semi-final bout but defeated Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan clinically in the bronze medal match. He picked up a convincing 8-0 win over the Kazakh wrestler to ensure he returned home with a medal from his debut Olympics campaign.
“Neeraj has made the entire country proud by winning the first ever medal for India in a track and field event in Olympics. With his performance, he has ended a 100+ year drought and showed that Indian athletes can outperform anyone on the world stage with proper training and effort. His effort will make millions of Indians dream to become an athlete and will bring about a sports revolution in the country. The same is true for Bajrang Punia as well. We are extremely proud and fortunate to count them as our students and look forward to welcoming these brave hearts back at the campus,” said Ashok Mittal, Chancellor, Lovely Professional University in a statement.
A total of eleven students from LPU represented India at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 this year. Seven players from the Indian men’s hockey team, which won the bronze medal are part of the university. India recorded its best-ever tally with seven medals at the Tokyo Olympics this year.
