India’s Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has outlined the country’s vision to host the 2036 Olympics and finish in the top 10 in the medals tally at an initiative to engage the country’s youth in India’s development goals.
Speaking at the launch of the ‘Viksit Bharat Ambassador – Yuva Connect’, he spoke to local university students in the Pune, Maharashtra region about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to transform India into a developed country by 2047 — including being among the top five in the global sports stage.
“For the vision of the next 25 years for the country’s development, we have also made a vision for sports that India aims to host the 2036 Olympics,” Mandaviya said.” And when India becomes a developed nation by 2047, the aim is to make the country among the top five in the world in the sports sector.”
As part of this ambitious scheme, the government will be rolling out projects to foster athletes’s development, such as the Targeted Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and projects like KIRTI (Khelo India Rising Talent Identification). The central government aims to identify young talent within schools and fund their training as they gain exposure at an international level.
“We must create world-class sportspersons … to develop such talent, we initiated Khelo India. With the help of Khelo India, young sportspersons should get the opportunities to play.We will have to identify sports talent and provide them with the necessary facilities. These talented individuals, in the coming days, will become athletes like Swapnil Kusale,” he said.
Shooter Kusale, who won a bronze medal in the Paris Olympics, was present at the event. Mandaviya spoke of the other podium finishers in Paris, as well as the ones who narrowly missed out on a medal and his faith that they will do better next time.
“This time, India won six medals (in the Paris Olympics), but eight sportspersons secured fourth place. The athletes who secured fourth place will improve their performance and aim for a spot in the top three in the next Olympics. India won 29 medals in the Paralympics, up from 19 in the previous edition,” he said.
The Paris Olympic Games was India’s third-largest medal haul ever, with historic wins by shooter Manu Bhaker who became the first Indian to win two medals in a single Olympics and wrestler Aman Sehrawat the youngest Indian to medal in the Olympics.
