Deepa Malik becomes first Indian woman para-athlete to be conferred Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award

On the occasion of National Sports Day (NSD), Bajrang Punia and Deepa Malik have been conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for the year 2019 in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the sport of wrestling and para-athletics, respectively at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. With this, Malik (49) became the first Indian woman para-athlete and the oldest athlete ever to be conferred the prestigious award. She also became only the second para-athlete after double Paralympic gold-medallist javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia, who received the recognition in 2017, to have won the prestigious award. The Khel Ratna award carries a prize purse of Rs 7.5 lakh.