Salman Khan to Indian athletes: Dont return early from Rio Olympics

New Delhi Indian Olympics Association president N Ramachandran is expecting the 121strong Indian contingent travelling for next months Rio Olympics to return with at least 10 medals if not moreAlso view photosSalman Khan AR Rahman give Indian athletes Rio sendoffIndian athletes sitting left to right gymnast Dipa Karmakar wrestlers Babita Kumari and Vinesh Phogat TT player Manika Batra with Sania Mirza standing actor Salman Khan Sports Minister Vijay Goel and music composer AR Rahman to Saniarsquos right during a sendoff ceremony in New Delhi yesterday PicPTILook there is no point putting pressure on the athletes because if you do that then it always becomes difficult for the sportsperson to perform to his or her potential But I am confident that the medal tally will be in double digits this time Ramachandran told midday yesterday moments after the IOAs official sendoff ceremony for the Rio Olympicsbound Indian contingent India had returned with its richest medal haul ndash six ndash from the London 2012 GamesBollywood actor Salman Khan had the crowd in splits at the IOAs official sendoff ceremony for the Rio Olympicsbound Indian contingent The Sultan movie hero who is IOAs Goodwill Ambassador for the Rio Olympics alongwith music legend AR Rahman advised the athletes to return from the Games as late as possibleTum jaa rahey ho Rio Lekin jitna late ho sakey utna late waapas aana you are going to Rio but please ensure you try and come back as late as possible The hidden message being that the longer the athletes remain in the competition the better is their medal prospects Point noted even as the crowd cracked up176 officials for 121 athletes was ridiculousWhile the Olympics is the ultimate destination for an athlete for some officials its no more than another exotic travel destination at the tax payers expense According to an IOA official who did not wish to be named almost 200 officials wanted to accompany the 100plus Riobound contingentTo be exact 176 officials wanted to accompany the 121string Rio athletes group We found it ridiculous When we went through the list it was evident that some names had ulterior motives behind their Rio travel plans Thankfully good sense prevailed and eventually only around 50 or so officials have been granted permission to travel with the squad said the officialWomen power at RioFor the first time India will be sending over 100 athletes to the Olympics Games mdash 121 to be precise and significantly almost half the squad comprises women We are very proud to announce that there are 54 women in our Rio Olympics squad Among these while there are some established individual athletes it is also for the first time in 36 years that our womens hockey team has qualified for the Games We are extremely proud of this achievement IOA general secretary Rajeev Mehta said at yesterdays sendoff ceremony for the Rio Olympicsbound Indian contingent here A topfive finish for the Indian womens hockey team at the Hockey World League ensured they returned to the Olympic stage which they last graced way back in 1980 in Moscow