Gaurav Gill wins first-ever Arjuna Award for motorsport
The Indian motorsport fraternity witnessed a red-letter day as Gaurav Gill secured his first-ever Arjuna Award for Motorsports. By doing so, he also becomes the first motorsport athlete in the country to win the second-highest national award for sports.
By Divyank K. Bansal
Gaurav Gill finally receives noteworthy recognition for an illustrious motorsport career in his maiden Arjuna Award win.
The Indian motorsport fraternity witnessed a red-letter day as Gaurav Gill became the first-ever Motorsport athlete to have been awarded the Arjuna Award – the second-highest sporting award of India. However, the win comes after a long & tedious wait, as this was Gill's fourth time being nominated for the award. His nomination was submitted earlier this month by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). The award was handed over to Gill by Shri Ramnath Kovind, President of India, at the 2019 National Sports & Adventure Awards ceremony.
Despite the wait though, the award comes as a welcome recognition of Gill's contributions to the Indian rally scene. In a career spanning more than two decades, Gaurav Gill has amassed innumerable victories and multiple championship titles, most notable among them being three Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) titles & six Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) titles. With an international stint at the 2018 World Rally Championship (WRC2 category) as well, Gill is now focused on expanding his international participation with his new team, JK Tyre Motorsport. Incidentally, Gill had started his karting career under the aegis of JK Tyre Motorsport.
Meanwhile, among the 19 athletes nominated for the 2019 Arjuna Award, some other notable names included Ravindra Jadeja (Cricket), Chinglensana Singh Kangujam (Hockey), and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (Football).
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