In another gaffe by Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel on Sunday, he referred Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu and bronze medallist Sakshi Malik as “Gold Medallist” despite the fact that he stayed in Rio with Indian players throughout the Olympics.
According to a report in The New Indian Express, Goel said, “Today the Khel Ratna awardee, Dhyan Chand awardees, Dronacharya awardees, Tenzing Norgay National Adventure awardees met the Prime Minister. In that we also had two Rio ‘gold medallists’ P.V. Sindhu and Sakshi Malik.”
“Today in ‘Mann Ki Baat’ address Prime Minister has encouraged the players of RIO Olympics and other players. I think their dedication for their games deserves a national welcome. We will keep taking initiatives that will take sports forward. We will also prepare for the upcoming Olympics for 2020, 26, 28,” he added.
According to a report in the Business Standard website, later, Goel said it was just a slip of tongue. "One should not make an issue of it. It was just a slip of tongue, I wanted to say medallist, but ended up saying gold medallist. It happens at times. Who knows, might be with god's grace, we might a bag gold medal in the coming years," said Goel.
