The Khel Ratna Award (), officially known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award ( Major Dhyan Chand Sport Jewel Award), is the highest sporting honour of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India. The recipient(s) is/are selected by a committee constituted by the Ministry and is honoured for their "spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports over a period of four years" at international level. , the award comprises a medallion, a certificate, and a cash prize of . Instituted in 1991–1992, the award was given for the performance by a sportsperson in a year. Based on the suggestions provided by 2014 award selection committee, the Ministry revised the criteria in February 2015 to consider the performance over a period of four years. The nominations for a given year are accepted till 30 April or last working day of April with not more than two sportspersons nominated for each sports discipline. A twelve-member committee evaluates the performances of a sportsperson at various International events like Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games. The committee later submits their recommendations to the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports for further approval. The award from 1991-2021 was named after Rajiv Gandhi (1944-1991), former Prime Minister of India. The award since August 6, 2021 is named after Major Dhyan Chand (1905–79), an Indian field hockey player, widely regarded as one of the greatest field hockey players of all time, who scored more than 1000 goals over a career that spanned over 20 years from 1926 to 1948. The first recipient of the award was Chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, who was honoured for the performance in the year 1991–92. In 2001, sport shooter Abhinav Bindra, then aged 18, became the youngest recipient of the award. Usually conferred upon only one sportsperson in a year, a few exceptions have been made (1993–1994, 2002, 2009, 2012, and 2016–2021) when multiple recipients were awarded in a year. , there have been fifty eight recipients from fifteen sport disciplines: Athletics, Badminton, Billiards, Boxing, Chess, Cricket, Field hockey, Gymnastics, Para Athletics, Para-badminton, Para Shooting, Shooting, Snooker, Table Tennis, Tennis, Wrestling, Weightlifting, and Yacht racing. Nominations The nominations for the award are received from all government recognised National Sports Federations, the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Sports Promotion and