Two-time Commonwealth Games (CWG) gold medalist and Tokyo Olympics silver medalist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, two-time Olympic medalist shuttler P.V. Sindhu, and reigning CWG and World Champion boxer Nikhat Zareen also made it to the list.
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The two Indian champion wrestlers, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, who protested against the former president of Wrestling Federation of India’s Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and accused him of sexual harassment, are among the five nominees for the BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year award on February 6, 2023. Besides Vinesh and Sakshi, the protest which took place at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on January 18 involved the presence of many top wrestlers like Bajrang Punia, Sangeeta Phogat, and others. The protest was called off on January 20, after Brij Bhusan Sharan Singh stepped aside as the president and the Sports Ministry ensured the athletes that a proper investigation would be done on the matter.
Two-time Commonwealth Games (CWG) gold medalist and Tokyo Olympics silver medalist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, two-time Olympic medalist shuttler P.V. Sindhu, and reigning CWG and World Champion boxer Nikhat Zareen are the other three athletes who made it to the final list. After a jury of sports journalists and writers cast their votes for their favorite athletes based on their accomplishments, the athletes were narrowed down to a shortlist. A public poll that started on Monday and will run until February 20 at midnight will determine the winner. The announcement will be done on March 5, 2023, after the evaluation. Rupa Jha, the Head of BBC News in India, announced the addition of a new award category, namely BBC Indian para-sportswoman of the year.
Paralympian Ekta Bhyan praised the decision relating to the addition of a new category and highlighted how important it is to improve physical accessibility in stadiums for athletes with disabilities. Ekta mentioned, “The stadiums and swimming pools should be accessible easily for the disabled athletes. Mental barriers need to be broken, about 60 to 70 percent of disabled population is still restricted to homes. More awareness and work is required at grassroots level.” “Sports should be a part of education. Why should disabled athletes start their careers at the age of 15 or 16. Sport should be accessible to them much earlier and there should be a comprehensive and non-discriminatory policy for the disabled,” she further said to team Sportstar.
According to Vijender, female athletes are superior to their male counterparts in every way and should be respected instead of given accolades. He suggested that building a multi-sport stadium in each Indian village would contribute towards encouraging the youngsters. Speaking about his involvement in the National federation’s decisions, he claimed that the national boxing organization did not communicate with boxers like him. He stated, “I know about current status of boxing as much as you (media persons) know. We are not called for even Nationals or other events. I was asked about Indian boxing by Salman Khan and Rahul Gandhi and told them I don’t know because we are not involved.”
Read more: Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain to take part in National Boxing Championships
