Ace rally driver Gaurav Gill was presented with the 2019 Arjuna Award by President Ram Nath Kovind earlier this week. Gill was finally nominated for the award after being passed over for three years. Notably, the Arjuna Award is the highest civilian honour for a sportsperson in the country.
So far, in his two-decade career, Gill has won numerous competition both national and international events including winning the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) thrice and winning the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) six times. Internationally, he has also represented India in the World Rally Championship 2 (WRC2), participating in four rounds last year, and he’s expected to compete in at least three rounds this year.
A 12-member selection committee including Mary Kom, Kamlesh Mehta, Baichung Bhutia and Anjum Chopra finalised Gill's name for the honour. Gill has won every single Dakshin Dare rally he has participated in. Last year he’d stepped up to World Rally Championship 2 (WRC2) with MRF, driving a Ford Fiesta R5 in four rounds. World Championships bronze-medallist shuttler B Sai Praneeth, woman cricketer Poonam Yadav, Asian Games gold-winner heptathlete Swapna Barman, footballer Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, two-time world silver-medallist boxer Sonia Lather, Asian Games silver-medallist equestrian Fouaad Mirza and Kabaddi captain Ajay Thakur were among the 19 sportspersons who received the Arjuna Award from President Ram Nath Kovind.
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