MUMBAI: While the development of India’s official bid to host the 2036 Olympics has stoked excitement among Indians, a look at the country’s performance in recent editions raises a troubling question. Should a country that has yet to achieve a double-digit Olympic medal tally on its list of priorities invest its resources in talent development and improving Olympic performance rather than bid to host the world’s largest multi-sport event?
world athletics President Sebastian Coe It is believed that hosting the Olympics can actually be an ideal “tool” to achieve these goals. “Forget whether it’s India or any other country, any country aspiring to host the Olympics should be welcomed. I firmly believe that the biggest driver of interest, excitement and ultimately participation is a well-stocked shop window. There is no better tool than the Olympics ,” Coe told The Times of India on Wednesday.
However, he added: “No organization should encourage a city or a country to do more than it can do. Those judgments have to be made internally. They have to want to be able to do that. They already have the reasons why they want to do that. Do it because it satisfies many of their goals, one of which is probably to spark interest in the Olympic movement.
Coe, a double Olympic gold medalist in the 1500m, is one of seven candidates trying to make it Thomas Bach As the next President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), met with the Prime Minister Modi and sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya In New Delhi on Monday, India bid to host 2036 Summer Olympics Discussions were held. Few know what it takes to make a successful Olympic bid better than the 68-year-old Briton, who played a leading role in bringing the Games to the city of his birth in 2012. Once the country makes the commitment and gets the rights to host the Olympics, the rest will fall into place.
“There is clearly political will to recognize that you have this huge global opportunity and London is a great example of this. London has almost quadrupled its partnership funding for our elite athletes. This creates a legacy that goes well beyond London’s thinking Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, we won more medals in Rio (67) than in London (65).
Coe highlighted the scale of infrastructure changes London has undergone in the seven years it has been preparing to host the Olympics. “If you let the macroeconomic cycle, the change of government, the change in political stance decide, this will never happen,” he added with a wry smile. “When you hold an opening ceremony, you can’t mess around. It’s not like saying “Give us another six months” doesn’t work.
“So I’m not speaking for any country. What I’m saying is that if you do it right, the multiplier effects in many other areas are quite profound and quantifiable.”
A huge cricket fan, Coe couldn’t resist taking a jibe at England’s old rivals Australia, saying he felt “terrible” to see “Australia suffering at the hands of India” during the inaugural Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Perth. Happy”. As far as sporting rivalries are concerned, the veteran sports administrator also expressed delight at the burgeoning rivalry between India and Pakistan, not on the cricket field but between javelin stars Neeraj Chopra and Arshad ·In the track and field competition between Nadim.
“It must be good, right? That night at the Stade de Paris was absolutely thrilling. The best part of the 80,000 spectators were completely stunned by that match. If you had said to sports fans 10 years ago, “If you put a guy from India and a guy from Pakistan competing for first place in the javelin throw at the Olympics, you’d be pretty sure about that,” Coe said with a smile. “
Coe added: “Our sport comes to life in head-to-head competition and there really is no greater head-to-head competition than Paris. I know the impact this has on my colleagues in athletics in Pakistan because I was at Asian Athletics the other day. Council, I know this has had a clear impact on India.
“Certainly the Indian athletics public has become somewhat accustomed to the Chopra effect. So everyone is a winner here because it raises the standard of Indian athletics and it raises the standard of South Asian athletics. But the key thing is that they both attract They are also great ambassadors for our sport.
