Olympian Lalremsiami Hmar Zote becomes the first Mizoram athlete to receive Arjuna Award

Indian women's hockey player and Olympian Lalremsiami Hmar created history on November 13. She became the first sportsman from Mizoram to bag the prestigious Arjuna Award. The award was presented by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, to Lalremsiami at a ceremony conducted at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. She is one of the 17 sportspersons who have been chosen for the Arjuna Awards 2025.

Lalremsiami Hmar's journey from Mizoram to international hockey

Lalremsiami comes from the Kolasib district of northern Mizoram, where she acquired an early interest in playing hockey. Her coaches saw her potential and advised her to play hockey. She enrolled in the state-run hockey academy in Thenzawl in 2011 at the tender age of 11. Later on, in 2016, she shifted to the National Hockey Academy in New Delhi.

She made her debut for the national team at the Junior Nehru Hockey Tournament in October 2011. She was selected to play for the Indian under-18 team taking part in the 2016 Asian Cup. In 2017, she received her first call up to the senior national team.

She went on to become a key member of the Indian women’s national hockey team. Playing in the Tokyo Olympics 2020, India came 4th. She became the first woman from Mizoram to play at the Olympics.

Her love for Indian hockey shone through in 2019. Despite losing her father, Lalthansanga Zote, she decided to stay with the team to play in the FIH Women’s Series in Japan. India went on to win and qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

In 2020, Lalremsiami was the first female hockey player from India to win the International Hockey Federation Women’s Rising Star of the Year Award. She has also won a bronze medal at the 2022 Asian Games and Asia Champions Trophies in 2023 and 2024. She also won gold at the 2026 Asian Games.

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