Understanding the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Youngest Recipient

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is India's highest sporting honour, awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. It is given to sportspersons for their outstanding performance over a period of four years at the international level.

The question asks about the youngest recipient of this prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

Let's look at the individuals provided in the options and their connection to the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award:

• Geet Sethi: A professional player of English billiards. He received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1992–1993.
• Virat Kohli: An international cricketer. He received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2018.
• Vishwanathan Anand: An Indian chess Grandmaster. He was the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991–1992.
• Abhinav Bindra: A former Indian Olympic shooter. He won India's first individual Olympic gold medal.

Identifying the Youngest Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardee

To determine the youngest recipient among these individuals, we need to consider their age when they received the award.

Abhinav Bindra received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2001. At that time, he was just 18 years old, making him the youngest recipient of the award to date.

Comparing this with the others:

• Vishwanathan Anand received it in 1991-92 at age 22.
• Geet Sethi received it in 1992-93 at age 31.
• Virat Kohli received it in 2018 at age 29.

Based on this information, Abhinav Bindra was indeed the youngest person to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award among the given options, and also overall at the time he received it.

Summary of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Recipients and Age at Award

Therefore, Abhinav Bindra holds the distinction of being the youngest recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

Revision Table: Key Facts about Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna

Additional Information on India's Highest Sports Honour

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award was instituted in 1991-1992. It was renamed the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in August 2021, in honour of the legendary Indian hockey player Major Dhyan Chand.

The award comprises a medal, a certificate, and a cash prize. It covers a wide range of sports disciplines.

Notable recipients over the years include athletes from various sports like:

• Chess (Vishwanathan Anand)
• Billiards (Geet Sethi)
• Weightlifting (Karnam Malleswari)
• Tennis (Leander Paes)
• Shooting (Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang)
• Boxing (Mary Kom, Vijender Singh)
• Wrestling (Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt)
• Badminton (P. V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal)
• Cricket (Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma)
• Hockey (Sardar Singh, Rani Rampal)
• Para-Athletics (Devendra Jhajharia, Mariyappan Thangavelu)

The selection committee considers the performance of the sportsperson over the preceding four years at various international events, including the Olympics, Paralympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and World Championships.