On International Olympic Day 2021, the Delhi government appointed India’s first woman Olympic medal winner Karnam Malleshwari as the first vice-chancellor of Delhi Sports University.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia welcomed Malleshwari on the occasion.

Taking the moment to Twitter, Kejriwal said, “Our dream of launching Delhi Sports University is coming true. It gives me great pride that Olympic medallist Karnam Malleshwari will be the first Vice-Chancellor of Delhi Sports University. We discussed the vision of Delhi Sports University today.”

दिल्ली स्पोर्ट्स यूनिवर्सिटी शुरू हो रही है। हमारा बहुत बड़ा सपना पूरा हुआ। मुझे ये कहते हुए बेहद गर्व है कि ओलम्पिक पदक विजेता कर्णम मल्लेश्वरी जी पहली कुलपति होंगी। आज उनके साथ मुलाक़ात हुई और विस्तार से चर्चा हुई। pic.twitter.com/h0At7FMe4b

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 23, 2021

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also welcomed the Olympic winner on Twitter.

“It is my greatest pleasure to announce the appointment of the first Vice-Chancellor of Delhi Sports University, Olympic medallist Karnam Malleshwari. Our purpose to establish the Delhi Sports University is to build and create athletes in our country who will make our nation proud. We want to create an atmosphere where sports flourishes and bring our players to a level where they bring at least 50 medals each year so that we can finally host Olympic 2048 in the nation,” he tweeted.

First female Olympic medalist of India @kmmalleswari ji will be the 1st Vice Chancellor of Delhi Govt’s Sports University.

With her experience and expertise aim to produce many more Olympic medalists who will make India proud. https://t.co/UuUMYeFHN9 pic.twitter.com/0XxBSKpAJG

— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) June 23, 2021

“The intention of building a world-class Sports University is not to generate jobs but to provide a space for individuals to finally build their athletic talent. Through Sports University, we want to nurture and foster talent so that we can say at least 50 Olympians are proud alumni of Delhi Sports University. The University will also provide state of the art sports facilities. Our goal is to prepare international medal-winning champions in at least 10 sports fields,” Sisodia added to his tweet.

Sharing her vision as VC of Delhi Sports University, the Olympic medalist said, “We should start visiting schools once they reopen and conduct a talent hunt for students interested in sports. Many children take a keen interest in sports but due to lack of any infrastructure, are unable to pursue their athletic dream. We will identify students, and match their athletic skills to the sports they are apt for. We can use our existing infrastructure and our coaches to begin sifting through our students to identify their athletic acumen. We will use the approach of going to schools, to children and players who are keen to strengthen their athletic acumen.”

My sincere gratitude..Honble CM Sir Shri @ArvindKejriwal ji, for entrusting me with this responsibility . Am honoured and assure of my best contributions to attain the objectives of this envisioned dream of Delhi Sports University#DelhiSportsUniversity https://t.co/rdPwWBkoY1

— Karnam Malleswari, OLY (@kmmalleswari) June 23, 2021

Sisodia also stated that the Delhi Sports University will be a prime Sports University, paramount in developing and fostering a culture rich in building sports acumen and provide world-class coaching. The degree a student will receive upon graduation from Delhi Sports University will be equivalent to degrees in mainstream courses.

The Delhi Assembly had in 2019 passed a bill to set up a Delhi Sports University (DSU), which will offer graduation, post-graduation and doctorate degrees in cricket, football, and hockey among other sports. The Sports University will streamline sports facilities and bring the sports talents under their ambit to prepare them for world-class competitions.