Congress President Sonia Gandhi today extended her good wishes to the Indian contingent ahead of the Rio Olympics and said that each one of them is a symbol of excellence, perseverance and hard work.
"Each Indian athlete in Rio is a symbol of excellence, perseverance and hard work. May the Olympic values of friendship, respect and excellence dominate the spirit of each participant and be their strength always," she said in a statement.
She also said that the entire country will be watching the games with keen interest adding that her thoughts and prayers will be with all Indian players.
The Congress president also congratulated the team management, coaches and organization responsible for preparing the contingent for the games.
The Indian tricolour was raised at the Olympic Athletes Village amid the humdrum of Samba beats and cultural performances on Tuesday.
Indian athletes have been arriving in the Olympics Village in small numbers and some of them arrived at the ceremony after training stints.
Those from Indian contingent who attended the opening ceremony included Prakash Nanjappa, Gurpreet Singh, Chain Singh, Manpreet Kaur, and Khushbir Kaur, Sajan Prakash and Shivani Katariya.
