It was a slip of tongue: Vijay Goel on calling PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik ‘gold medallists’

"People shouldn't make an issue out of a slip of tongue, this can happen at times," said Goel.

vijay goel, goel, pv sindhu, sakshi malik, rio rio olympics, sports minister

Sports Minister Vijay Goel

Already facing flak for taking selfies at Rio Olympics when Indian athletes were performing poorly, Sports Minister once again raised many eyebrows on Sunday when he referred to Sakshi Malik and PV Sindhu as ‘gold medallists’, even though they’d won bronze and silver respectively.

Goel, however, called it a slip of tongue and said people should not make an issue out of it. “People shouldn’t make an issue out of a slip of tongue, this can happen at times. I wanted to say medallist but ended up saying gold medallist and anyway, who knows we might bag a gold medal in the coming years,” said Goel.

Goel, earlier, met shuttler Sindhu, wrestler Malik and wrestler Dipa Karmakar in the national capital and lauded them for bringing honour to the nation at Rio.

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The minister said that in order to motivate and produce more athletes, the Sports Ministry is coming up with several programmes across the country, in which if a person has the potential to shine in a particular sport, then they can be put in touch with the Government.

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https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4qkogr_sakshi-malik-on-her-medal-win_sport

#WATCH “Rio Olympics gold medallists PV Sindhu & Sakshi Malik met PM Modi today,” says Sports Minister Vijay Goelhttps://t.co/5LiKwExkv7

— ANI (@ANI_news) August 28, 2016

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“The sports ministry will also ensure the optimum usage of all sports stadiums and that they are open to the public and the athletes, so than we can further develop the sports infrastructure. We have three major responsibilities: one is competition and through that talent hunting and then excellence in sports,” he said.

Talking about the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the minister said that if collective efforts are pooled in now, then exemplary results can be expected, adding that more women should represent India and that the Ministry will try and provide more facilities to girls.