A total of 17 names have been conferred with the Arjuna Awards in 2026, as exclusively confirmed by Sports Now. There will be no Khel Ratna award this year as well. The most striking thing among this list is the fact that no cricketer has been included. The ones who lead the list are India’s Commonwealth Games 2026 heroes Tejaswin Shankar and boxer Narender Berwal. Chess stars Vidit Gujrathi and Divya Deshmukh too have been awarded with the top honours.

Here is the list of 17 Arjuna Awardees For 2026:

Decathlete Tejaswin Shankar finds his name on the list after scripting history at CWG 2026, where he won a sensational bronze to become the first-ever Indian to claim a Commonwealth Games decathlon medal. Similarly, heavyweight boxer Narender Berwal secured his Arjuna spot following a valiant silver medal finish in the men’s 90+kg category in Glasgow, a crucial medal that helped India achieve its most successful boxing campaign in CWG history.

Teenage chess sensation Divya Deshmukh and Grandmaster Vidit Santosh Gujrathi earned their spots following stellar international campaigns, and were part of India;s historic gold medal at the Chess Olympiads in 2024.

The list of names also feature a number of names from the world of para sports. World para-athletics champion Ekta Bhyan is being honoured on the back of her silver medal at the 2025 World Championships in New Delhi and gold in the event in Kobe 2024. She is joined by teenage para-shooting prodigy Rudransh Khandelwal and Deaflympics champion Dhanush Srikanth.