Dronacharya Award
- The Dronacharya Award gets its name from the epic of Mahabharata. Dronacharya was the guru of the Kauravas and the Pandavas.
- The Dronacharya Award came into existence in 1985 and was included by the Government of India.
- These sports awards are presented to the ‘gurus’ or coaches in the sports fraternity who have coached in various big sporting events like the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, etc.
- The first ones on the list of coaches to receive this award in 1985 were Om Prakash Bhardwaj (Boxing), O. M. Nambiar (Athletics), and Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat (Wrestling).
- Weightlifting coach Hansa Sharma is the first woman ever to have received this award in the year 2000.