Asian Games-2026 triumph

• Rs. 1 crore for gold medallists, Rs. 75 lakh for silver and  Rs. 50 lakh for bronze medallists
• Athletes to get Rs. 10 lakh each for Olympics preparation

Bengaluru: The State Government has increased the cash reward for medal winning athletes in Asian Games.

Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar announced a total cash prize of Rs. 8 crore for 8 medal winners during the felicitation of the State’s athletes, who had won medals in the recently held Asian Games 2026 in Japan, at Vidhana Soudha yesterday.

The CM also announced several key incentive measures from the State Government for athletes who participated in Asian Games, including medal winners.

For the first time, a cash incentive of Rs. 5 lakh each has been sanctioned to 20 athletes from Karnataka who qualified and competed in Asian Games. Sportspersons from athletics, badminton, cricket, cycling, equestrian, golf, hockey, shooting, swimming, table tennis and sports climbing disciplines are the beneficiaries of this scheme.

Increase in reward money

The State Government has increased the cash reward given to Karnataka athletes who won medals at the Asian Games. Previously, Rs. 35 lakh was awarded for a gold medal, Rs. 25 lakh for silver and Rs. 15 lakh for bronze. The CM announced that the cash reward had been increased to Rs.1 crore for a gold medal, Rs. 75 lakh for silver and Rs. 50 lakh for bronze medal.

Direct recruitment for athletes

CM Shivakumar also announced that an opportunity has been provided for direct recruitment to Group-B posts for medal winners of the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. This recruitment will be carried out through a selection committee chaired by the Chief Secretary.

The State Government has also extended support to athletes preparing for the next stage at the Olympics. Asian Games medal winners M.R. Poovamma, S.S. Sneha, Shreyanka Patil and Commonwealth Games medal winner K.S. Shilpa have been inducted into the ‘Target Olympics’ scheme for 2026-27. A cash incentive of Rs. 10 lakh each will be provided to them for Olympics preparation. The Government has also issued a notification reserving 2 percent jobs in State Government’s direct recruitment across Group A, B, C and D posts for achiever athletes.

List of eight medal-winning athletes from Asian Games

Shreyanka R. Patil (Cricket Women’s Team – Gold)
M.R. Poovamma (Athletics 4×400 Mixed Relay, 4×400 Women’s Relay – Silver and Gold)
Tilottama Sen (Shooting, Women’s 50m Rifle – Silver)
Ayush R. Shetty (Men’s Team Badminton – Silver)
S.S. Sneha (Athletics 4×100 Mixed Relay – Bronze)
Aditi Ashok (Golf Women’s Team – Silver)
Pranavi S. Urs (Golf Women’s Team – Silver and Individual – Gold)
H.S. Mohith (Hockey Men’s Team – Gold)

Rs. 5 lakh cash reward each for Asian Games – 2026 participants
Yashas Palaksha – Athletics
Supriya Sindigere Basavaraju – Athletics
Unnathi Aiyappa – Athletics
M.R. Poovamma – Athletics
S.S. Sneha – Athletics
Ayush Shetty – Badminton
Shreyanka R. Patil – Cricket T20
Keerthi Rangaswamy – Cycling Track
Fouaad Mirza – Equestrian
Aditi Ashok – Golf
Pranavi S. Urs – Golf
H.S. Mohith – Hockey
Tilottama Sen – Shooting
Akash Mani – Swimming
Srihari Nataraj – Swimming
S. Dakshan – Swimming
Aneesh Gowda – Swimming
Yashaswini Ghorpade – Table Tennis
Sindhushree – Athletics
Deepu Mallesh – Sports Climbing