Panchkula: Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday honoured 24 state athletes who won medals at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, and presented cash awards totalling Rs 13.97 crore.Haryana athletes won 11 medals (seven gold, two silver and two bronze), accounting for more than 28% of India’s total medal tally. The state, which has around 2% of India’s population, sent 24 of the 122-member Indian contingent, with nearly every second athlete from Haryana returning with a medal.“An athlete’s story does not begin with a medal. It begins in the soil where they first learnt to run, on the field where they first experienced defeat, and on those mornings when the rest of the world was asleep while they were working towards their dream,” Saini said.He highlighted the performance of Haryana’s women athletes, who won six of the state’s 11 medals, including five golds. Haryana boxers won six of India’s seven gold medals in the sport, with Preeti Pawar, Jaismine Lamboria, Sakshi Chaudhary, Priya Ghanghas, Sachin Siwach and Ankush Panghal winning gold.Para-athlete Sharmila also won gold, while Neeraj Chopra took silver in javelin and boxer Narender Berwal won silver.Saini said 260 sportspersons had been given Group A, B and C govt jobs under the state’s Outstanding Sportspersons Recruitment Rules. He said the Sports Gradation Policy had also been amended to extend benefits to athletes participating in the Haryana State Games.The state govt has awarded Rs 742 crore in cash prizes to 17,544 sportspersons over nearly 12 years, Saini said.He expressed confidence that Haryana’s athletes would help India emerge as a major sporting power at the 2028, 2032 and 2036 Olympics.Saini later interacted with the athletes and heard about their training, struggles and journeys to the international stage.
