On the occasion of Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Indian contingent of the Paris Olympics at his residence 7, Lok Kalyan Marg in the national capital on Thursday.
During the meet, the Indian men's hockey team presented him with a signed jersey and a hockey stick.
"It is an honour to have you all here... PR Sreejesh proved why he is known as 'The Wall'. Everyone who won a medal and even those who lost by a point reiterated that this saga will not stop unless they win a gold," PM Modi said while interacting with the Indian contingent.
Former Indian hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh also spoke about his journey and said, "I have been thinking of retiring for the last few years. I joined the camp in 2002 and played my first international match in 2004 at junior level. I have played since then and represented the country for 20 years so I thought that I should retire from the sport at a good level so the Olympics was that platform.
Modi also had a light-hearted chat with Harmanpreet Singh, who opened up on how the team fought back after being down to 10 men for more than 40 minutes in the quarterfinal against Great Britain.
"Just tell me when you to fight with 10-men against Britain, you must have been demoralised from the start, Sarpanch saab, please tell, it was very difficult," Modi asked the India captain, addressing him with his nickname.
Harmanpreet replied: "Yes Sir, it was very difficult because we got the red card in the first quarter but our coaching staff helped us a lot. We visualised every situation because in Olympics anything can happen. The motivation of the team also increased because we have a rivalry with GB (Britain)."
Modi interrupted and jokingly said: "It has been going on for the last 150 years."
Harmanpreet said: "We fought and ended the match 1-1 and won it in shoot-out. It never ever happened in Olympics history (playing with 10 men for 42 minutes and then winning)."
Modi believes the just-concluded Paris Olympics is going to be a turning point for India. The 117-member Indian contingent returned with six medals, including one silver and five bronze. The count was one less than Tokyo and there was no gold in the tally this time.
But the PM appreciated the efforts of all athletes who represented the country and said their inputs will help in successfully getting the hosting rights of the 2036 Games.
"Those who have returned after losing, please get this out of your mind. You made the country proud and came back after learning something. Sports is one area where no one loses, everybody learns," Modi said.
"I believe Paris Olympics will be a launch-pad for the rise of Indian sports. This is going to be our turning point. After that there will only be wins. We are not going to stop," the Prime Minister added.
The Prime Minister termed the athletes as "India's soldiers of 2036 Olympics".
"India is preparing to host the 2036 Olympics. In this case many athletes who played in the Olympics, their inputs are very important. You might have observed many things there, from Olympics planning to all facilities, from sports management to event management," Modi said.
"Your experiences, your observations, we need to write them down, so in 2036 Olympics all the little things and experiences of yours will help us in preparing for the Games. In one way you are soldiers of 2036 Olympics," he added.
The Paris Olympics were promoted as eco-friendly Games. So, there were no air conditioners in any rooms in the Games village, forcing the sports ministry to dispatch 40 portable ACs on an urgent basis for their comfortable stay.
A laughing Modi asked all the athletes who all cursed him for the situation, to which no one replied.
"There were no ACs and it was hot as well, so I want to know which of you cried first saying 'Modi speaks big but there are no ACs in rooms so what should we do'," Modi said.
"Who all here faced most difficulties? But then I learnt that within a few hours that issue was also resolved. See, how we try to provide you the best of facilities!" the Prime Minister added.
India ended its campaign at the Paris Olympics with six medals including five bronze and a silver.
