Tokyo Olympics: IOA announces cash prize for coaches who help athletes win medals at Games

By Nitin Srivastava
New Delhi [India], July 24 (ANI): The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Saturday announced cash rewards for coaches who are there with the athletes and training them in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
The coaches who help athletes win a gold medal will get Rs 12.5 lakh while the ones who help athletes bring back a silver will get Rs 10 lakh. The ones who help athletes win the bronze medal will get Rs 7.5 lakh.
"Coaches who are here with athletes and have trained them will be given cash rewards, it will be a huge morale booster for them. Vijay Sharma, Mirabai Chanu's coach will get Rs 10 lakh," IOA Secretary-General Rajeev Mehta told ANI.
Mirabai Chanu opened India's medals tally on Saturday as she bagged a silver in the Women's 49kg category at Tokyo International Forum.
Chanu lifted a total of 202 kg (87kg in snatch and 115kg in clean and jerk) during her four successful attempts across the competition. China's Zhihui Hou bagged gold with a total of 210kg and created a new Olympic Record while Indonesia's Windy Cantika Aisah grabbed bronze with a total of 194kg.
With this monumental silver medal, Chanu has become the second Indian weightlifter to win an Olympic medal after Karnam Malleswari bagged bronze in the 69kg category at the 2000 Sydney Games when the weightlifting arena was opened to women for the first time.
Mirabai Chanu's chief coach Vijay Sharma on Saturday said he is very happy after she won silver at the Tokyo Olympics and he also praised the weightlifter's work ethics.
"The setback of the Rio Olympics has brought us here. The coach has an important role, if the player is not disciplined, then the coach cannot also do anything. I would say that Mirabai Chanu has a big role behind this performance, she is very dedicated and it is because of that, she has managed to win a silver medal," Sharma told ANI.
(ANI)