SSC
Who was the first para-athlete to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award?
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Answer: Option D — Devendra Jhajharia
Detailed Solution
Javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (now the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna) in 2017, becoming the first para-athlete to receive India's highest sporting honour. He shared the award that year with hockey player Sardar Singh.
More about Devendra Jhajharia:
He was born on 10 June 1981 in Churu district, Rajasthan.
At the age of eight, he lost his left arm after touching a live electric wire while climbing a tree. He competes in the F46 category (arm impairment).
He won gold in the javelin throw at the 2004 Athens Paralympics and again at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, breaking his own world record each time. He became the first Indian to win two Paralympic gold medals.
He won silver at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
He received the Arjuna Award (2004) and the Padma Shri (2012), becoming the first Paralympian to receive the Padma Shri. He received the Padma Bhushan in 2022, the first para-athlete to do so.
In 2024, he was elected President of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI).
Other Paralympians who received the Khel Ratna:
- Mariyappan Thangavelu (high jump): 2020.
- Deepa Malik (shot put): 2019, the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic medal (silver, 2016).
- Avani Lekhara, Sumit Antil, Pramod Bhagat, Krishna Nagar and Manish Narwal: 2021.
Murlikant Petkar:
He won India's first Paralympic gold, in swimming (50 m freestyle) at the 1972 Heidelberg Paralympics. He received the Padma Shri in 2018 and the Arjuna Award (lifetime) in 2024. The film "Chandu Champion" (2024) is based on his life.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Mariyappan Thangavelu received the Khel Ratna in 2020, after Jhajharia.
- ✗Deepa Malik received it in 2019, after Jhajharia.
- ✗Murlikant Petkar won India's first Paralympic gold (1972) but did not receive the Khel Ratna.
Quick tip
Remember: Devendra Jhajharia = first para-athlete to get the Khel Ratna (2017); javelin golds 2004 and 2016; first Paralympian with Padma Shri (2012); PCI president (2024).
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Sports — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Sports, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers sports GK: major tournaments and their venues, trophies and cups associated with each sport, sports terms, the number of players in a team, sports awards in India, Olympic and Asian Games facts, and famous sportspersons and their achievements. Common questions ask which sport a trophy belongs to (such as the Durand Cup for football or the Ranji Trophy for cricket), which term is used in which sport, and where a tournament was held. Records and results change after every season, so pair static facts such as team sizes and terms with recent results from current affairs. Practise the sports questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.