Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, Paralympics gold medallist Sumit Antil, and woman cricketer Mithali Raj along with nine other sportspersons were conferred the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award—the country’s highest sporting honour—at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Saturday. While an unprecedented 35 athletes were honoured with the Arjuna Award in a glittering ceremony.

Loud applause greeted Chopra, the first Indian to win an athletics gold medal in Olympics at Tokyo earlier this year, and the Paralympics heroes as they received the Khel Ratna awards from President Ram Nath Kovind in the presence of a host of Ministers, dignitaries, and sports celebrities.