'Entire nation is proud': Prime Minister Modi meets with India's Commonwealth Games contingent

On Saturday, Prime Minister Modi met with and felicitated India's athletes who participated in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, describing the experience as "relating," and told them that the whole nation was proud of their achievements.

"Elated to interact with our CWG 2022 contingent. Entire nation is proud of their outstanding achievements," the PM tweeted.

"Compared to last time, this time we paved our way to victory in 4 new sports. There was an unprecedented performance-from Lawn Balls to Athletics. With this, the interest of youth in new sports will increase. We have to further improve our performance in these new sports," the PM added.

This marks first time the Prime Minister has physically interacted with the winners of the Commonwealth Games, after their spectacular performance in Birmingham.

From July 28 to August 8, nearly 200 Indian athletes competed for medals across 16 different sports at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.

India wrapped up its Commonwealth Games 2022 campaign at fourth position with 61 medals (22 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze). Wrestling topped the medal chart with 12 medals including six gold while weightlifting accounted for 10 medals.

India has delivered its fourth-best performance of all time in their Commonwealth Games history, with their best being a total of 101 medals when the games were held at home in 2010.

The Indian women's cricket team also created history as they won the silver medal in CWG's first-ever T20 event.

The Commonwealth Games 2022 came to an end with a stunning closing ceremony at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham on Monday.

The Commonwealth Games flag was presented to the Governor of Victoria. The state of Victoria, Australia will be the next host of the Commonwealth Games in 2026.