India’s 2036 Games bid fuels sporting superpower dreams but hurdles, heavyweight rivals remain
Part of the logo of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is seen on an official Paris 2024 store at Place de l’Opera in Paris, France, January 1, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
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BENGALURU, Oct 7 : India’s bid for the 2036 Olympics sits at the heart of a wider effort to transform the country into a sporting superpower and the Indian Olympic Association is convinced it can come out on top in a fiercely competitive process, its chief executive officer Raghuram Iyer told Reuters on Wednesday.
India’s ambitions took a step forward on Tuesday after the International Olympic Committee said the world’s most populous nation along with Germany, Qatar, Hungary, Turkey, South Africa and South Korea were in the running to stage the 2036 Games.
The bid faces no shortage of challenges with the lack of recent experience hosting multi-sport Games, governance issues within the IOA, limited Olympic medal success and its poor doping record all counting against India.
Despite the hurdles, Iyer argued that close engagement with the IOC and growing experience in hosting international events would help India secure the Games, which officials see as a springboard for its sporting ambitions.
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“We have the mission to become a sporting superpower,” Iyer told Reuters in a telephone call.
“It is not a one-off event. It is a complete process we’re in and hoping that India one day becomes a superpower and comes in the top 10 in the world or the top five in the world.
“The legacy will continue until sports becomes a part of daily life of every Indian, because it’s more than just winning medals, it’s all about health, fitness, mental well-being and the nation becoming healthier and fitter overall.”
A series of embarrassments over leaking stadiums and filthy accommodation in the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games hosted by New Delhi in 2010 muddied India’s reputation as hosts of international multi-sport events.
Since last year, however, the country has staged dozens of international competitions across 15 cities and is on course to host 65 events by 2028 – a target it hopes will demonstrate its capacity to stage a multi-sport spectacle like the Games.
The next step is presentations to the IOC’s Future Host Commission next month and bids will then go through feasibility assessments, site visits and detailed reviews before the IOC narrows the field.
A shortlist of preferred candidates is expected in late 2028, with IOC members due to elect the host in 2029.
CHALLENGERS WITH OLYMPIC PEDIGREE
Iyer said the IOA was committed to working with the IOC to iron out any “blind spots” in the bid and the body has already started addressing some potential issues.
After visiting the IOC last year, it announced a new anti-doping education programme in an attempt to tackle its position atop the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of offenders for three straight years.
The IOA also offered assurances of unity after India was threatened with a ban from the 2024 Paris Games over governance and election disputes.
India would be up against rivals with far stronger Olympic pedigrees like former hosts Germany and South Korea, while Qatar brings with it the experience of having staged the 2022 soccer World Cup.
The western city of Ahmedabad, the political stronghold of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is central to India’s ambitions and is lined up to stage the 2030 Commonwealth Games and potentially the 2038 Asian Games.
The Times of India reported last year that Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar detailed a blueprint to host the Games with costs estimated around $3.51 billion to $6.61 billion.
Iyer said that India’s bid was being driven by growing investment in sport from both the government and private sector, arguing that greater resources were beginning to translate into stronger performances on the international stage.
India have claimed a total of 41 medals at the Olympics since 1900, with seven of them coming at the Tokyo Games five years ago and six from Paris 2024.
“You’ve seen over the couple of years the kind of focus that’s been on sport and the kind of investment that’s coming from the government, the private sector and from the various parties involved,” Iyer added.
“There’s a lot of focus and some of it’s also showing in the results that are coming out on the international stage.
“The Olympics is the ultimate (thing). Our ambition is to pitch for it, hopefully host it and in the process, become the sporting nation and the sporting powerhouse we want to be.”
Source: Reuters
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