Harvinder first para archer to receive India’s prestigious Arjuna Award

Paralympic bronze medallist Harvinder Singh has become the first para archer in history to be recognised with the Arjuna Award, an honour recognising outstanding achievements in sports.

He beat Korea’s Kim Min Su in a shoot-off to secure the podium at Tokyo 2020 earlier this summer.

The bronze was an historical first medal for India in the archery competitions at either the Olympic or Paralympic Games. 

“It feels really fantastic,” he said afterwards. “I’m the first Indian and I just want to thank everybody that helped me.”

Harvinder was one of 35 athletes to receive India’s highest annual honour for sportspeople in 2021.

Previous archers to receive the Arjuna Award include Atanu Das (2020), Jyothi Surekha Vennam (2017), Deepika Kumari (2012) and Limba Ram (1991). There have been 18 in total.

Arjuna was one of the main characters in the Indian epic Mahabharata. He was a skilled archer.