 "A woman pauses for photos next to the Olympic rings near the New National Stadium in Tokyo. Photo: AP | PTI")
Indian Railways is organising a 'Cheer4India' campaign for the Olympic-bound athletes across the country and has urged people to come out in support of the sportspersons, who will be competing at the Tokyo Games beginning July 23.
Indian Railways has set up Olympic selfie points at various railway stations over different divisions across the country for people to show their support and to encourage the Indian contingent which is participating in the Tokyo Olympics.
Rahul Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, Mysuru, has urged the rail users to click selfies at Selfie Points installed across Indian railway stations and share them widely to encourage the participating athletes, and for creating a fit India.
Earlier last month, while announcing the 'Cheer Up' Campaign across the country, the Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju had said over 6,000 selfie points will be set up in the country where people can show their support. "I have spoken to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and he immediately deployed space across 6,000 railway stations across the country where Olympics Selfie Points have been set up. The Chief Minister of Haryana has also clicked a selfie photograph with the symbol to encourage others to join the campaign and encourage the Tokyo-bound players."
"I wanted the Olympics movement and the importance of Olympics to be understood by everyone spread across the length and breadth of India. Sports is the biggest soft power of a nation," he added.
The number of Indian athletes participating in the Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games has seen a steady rise in the past three editions. Over 100 athletes have already made the cut so far and many more are expected to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
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With the Tokyo Games round the corner, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is likely to declare the name of flag bearers for the opening ceremony of the showpiece event by July 5. "IOA is planning to declare the names on the 5th of July. We have some names which we are sorting out but as of now, majorly it is on PV Sindhu and Bajrang Punia but again it's not official. Final names will be declared by July 5," sources in the know of developments told ANI.
Meanwhile, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and IOA has continued their efforts to sensitise the Tokyo-bound athletes to help them understand the Japanese culture and address the possible barriers besides being ideal ambassadors of the country.
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