With the Tokyo Olympics set to commence in a week’s time, a formal send-off ceremony took place today at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.

This marked departure of the first batch of athletes from India to Tokyo. The contingent of 88 including 54 athletes, support staff and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) representatives were given a formal send-off.

It was led by Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports and Shri Nisith Pramanik, Minister of State, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. They were joined by Shri Narinder Dhruv Batra, President, IOA; Shri Rajeev Mehta, Secretary General, IOA and Shri Sandip Pradhan, Director-General, Sports Authority of India at the ceremony.

Athletes and support staff in eight sports, Archery , Hockey, Badminton, Table Tennis, Archery, Judo, Gymnastics and Weightlifting were departing from New Delhi today with largest contingent being of hockey .

To ensure the safety of the athletes, all dignitaries attending the event were made to have their COVID tests done . Only those with negative reports were permitted to the event. All social distancing measures were followed in place  on this occasion .

As many as 127 Indian athletes have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, which is a record, overhauling the 117 that qualified for the Rio Olympics.