CM congratulates Asian Games medalists

Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay congratulated medalist Vithya Ramraj at an event organized by SDAT in Chennai on Thursday. | Photo credit: R. RAGU

Dressed in his signature black blazer over a white shirt and blue trousers, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay arrived at the ceremony at the Leela Palace Hotel on Thursday evening for the Asian State Games medalists and members of the Indian chess teams that won medals at the Samarkand Chess Olympiad and soon found himself surrounded by people eager to take selfies with him.

The demands continued until the moment he left the place. Such was the enthusiasm that even the families of the sportspersons who came on stage to receive their awards made sure to have a moment with the actor-turned-Chief Minister and pose for selfies with him.

A total of ₹ 7.65 crore in enhanced incentives has been announced for the medal winners of the country’s Asian Games. The gold, silver and bronze medalists received ₹75 lakh, ₹50 lakh and ₹30 lakh respectively.

The silver-winning men’s team received ₹15 million each, while the bronze-winning women’s team received ₹10 million each. The awards were presented by Mr Vijay and Minister for Public Works and Sports Development Aadhav Arjuna.

Mr. Arjuna emphasized the need to build more sports grounds and pointed out that many of the existing facilities were old. “The stadiums that were built during Jayalalithaa’s time are very old. We need good infrastructure and rehabilitation centers. There is no center for physically challenged athletes. Our priority is to build a healthy ecosystem for athletes. With this in mind, we have increased the budget for sports. There will be sports events for transgender athletes and we plan to build sports hostels in all 38 missions above Tamil to win medals. Los Angeles 2028 and Olympic 2036 Games,” he said.

The Asian Games medalists who spoke thanked the state government for its support.

TK Vishal, who won silver in the 4x400m medley relay and bronze in the men’s 4x400m relay, said he was happy that the sports hostels would have air-conditioning. “It is a basic need. I used to sleep without AC during my stay in the sports hostels. It affects our recovery,” he said.

Baranica Elangovan, who won bronze in the women’s pole vault at the Games, thanked the government for providing the new poles. “It was with the pole vaults that I won the medal,” she said.

Published – October 9, 2026 0:46 AM IST