New Delhi, Oct. 10 -- A week after the Asian Games ended in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, Indian sport remains a chaotic kaleidoscope. Reviews and post-mortems, so typical of 'babudom', were expected. The fact is, all this will serve no purpose. Sport is not about what went wrong. Time wasted on it is futile. Moving ahead, the prescription is to focus on the next goal(s) and determine what can be done.
With less than 21 months to go before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Indian sport needs to work hard, in tandem, and soar. The elite athletes will slog, leave no stone unturned and try to attain qualifying marks for the LA Olympics. Even then, there is no guarantee that a medal will come for sure. Why do I state this? Because an impression has been created by folks in the Sports Ministry as if 35 athletes turned out to be 'cheats' of sorts and underperformed at the Asian Games!
If you take some sporting disciplines, notably shooting, an Indian shooter winning a quota does not guarantee 100 per cent participation in the Olympics. There will still be Olympic selection trials, which can also be the case in boxing, wrestling and other sports. Ideally, the atmosphere has to be competitive and congenial. To read that some athletes 'tanked' in Nagoya or were unfit is distressing. Surely, no athlete wants to fly out, flop and come back. Those days are gone in Indian sport, hopefully.
We live in an age where data-driven facts flood us. Projections were made even before the Asian Games that India would win 130-plus medals. Whoever did that calculation, it flopped. So, the best approach is to let the top athletes represent India in 2028, which is around 20 months away. There is no certainty about who will be fit, who will be injury-free and who will not flunk a dope test. The worst fear is doping, since no sport is dope-free, thanks to that ugly desire to succeed because of cash awards and rewards. Look at how various states are throwing awards at medal-winning athletes. Haryana, Tamil Nadu and many more states are loosening their purse strings, while Karnataka is a miser.
And if athletes are cribbing about a lower cash component as a reward from their state, it's sad. At the end of the day, each athlete is representing India. Period. We saw massive flop shows at the Asian Games in badminton, tennis, equestrian and a few more sporting disciplines. How India ensures this will not happen at the Olympics in Los Angeles is a subject that our policymakers and the National Sports Federations have to deal with. We, in India, are still stuck with old names.
Neeraj Chopra, PV Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu and Manu Bhaker, champions all, will still be hyped as medal prospects in 2028. Right or wrong, do not ask, for this is the way to create hype. Pray, if you look at the medal winners from the Asian Games, fresh faces created a stir and took us by storm.
Planning for the LA Olympics has already begun. India has qualified in hockey, so the target should be building a core team for both the men's and women's sides. How boxers shape up, whether there can be another name ahead of Mirabai and whether India can hope to find more big names to do well in weightlifting are areas where work has to be done.
For sure, one sport that delivers medals for India at the Olympics is shooting. From Rajyavardhan Rathore winning a silver medal in double trap at the 2004 Athens Olympics to Abhinav Bindra winning gold in Beijing in 2008, the sequence was maintained. At the 2012 London Olympics, Gagan Narang won a bronze in rifle shooting and Vijay Kumar a silver. Yet, failures at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 were sad. Manu Bhaker winning two bronze medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Sarabjot Singh also winning a mixed-team medal in air pistol and Swapnil Kusale clinching a rifle medal were highs.
Today, there are more shooters who can defeat the above-mentioned names in trials, the Nationals and even the Asian Games. That is the depth that exists in Indian shooting. But then, making shooters peak at the LA Olympics will be a challenge. Mission Possible, for sure, as we have talented shooters like Neeru Dhanda and more names in shotgun shooting. Where there is a gap between potential and performance, India may still need experts from overseas, be they coaches, mind trainers or other foreign specialists.
At a time when we are talking about performance and how India can emerge as a sporting power, there is another narrative emerging: how India wishes to host more big international sporting events. If you have followed the calendar in India, many important events have been hosted in the last year or so. That New Delhi is no longer the favourite host city, but Ahmedabad is, has become obvious.
Old-timers still wonder how and when Ahmedabad became a sports city. Yes, in cricket, the Narendra Modi Stadium, refurbished and redone in 2021, is a massive hit. The venue has hosted multiple ICC World Cup matches in the ODI and T20 formats. In addition, big cricket events have also shown Ahmedabad to be a lively city now.
So, if a strong pitch is being made by India to host the 2036 Summer Olympics in Ahmedabad, why not? The 2030 Commonwealth Games will be held in the same city. Ahmedabad is also looking at hosting the Asian Games in 2038. A final decision on it will come in a few years, not right away, from the Olympic Council of Asia.
It is pertinent to point out that India is being taken seriously by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). "Wherever the Games take place, one thing must never change: athletes have to be at the heart of everything we do," said IOC President Kirsty Coventry. "That is why, for every future host, delivering the best possible experience for the athletes must always be the starting point."
These words from Kirsty Coventry are important, as India will be pushing its case ahead in the next phase. Competing with Doha, Hungary, Germany and South Korea may look intimidating to a few back home in India. The reality is that India does have a chance. What happens from now until 2027, when the further shortlist will be announced, is significant.
Doha has enough money and has hosted big sporting events, from the Asian Games to the FIFA World Cup in 2022. However, money is not the sole factor that will decide. The war in the Gulf region, plus Iran and unrest in Saudi Arabia, will be impeding factors. In Doha, there are also strong restrictions in place over liquor policy, LGBTQ issues and a few more important points. This was highlighted by the world media as well.
Why does Ahmedabad have a chance? It is well known that, despite inflation and other issues, India hosting an Olympics is about more than pride. Costing is a factor, but there is no way you can say no to an Olympics bid. Then again, those who think India has to be a strong sporting nation, win a huge number of medals at the Summer Olympics and only then bid for an Olympics are wrong.
Not many would know that there are key factors in play that will decide the final 2036 Summer Olympics host city. The principles laid down for selecting Olympic hosts include Full Alignment, Flexibility, Transparency, Legacy and Continuity, and Collaboration and Partnership. All this is mentioned in an IOC document accessed by this writer.
To the layman, everything mentioned above may sound like jargon. How India is approaching the 2036 Summer Olympics is smart. Not everything has to be put out in the public domain. The timeline is as follows: In November 2026, there will be a virtual presentation by Interested Parties (Countries) to the Future Host Commission. By March 2027, there will be IOC Feasibility Assessments. Going forward, after that, there will be the opening of Strategic Dialogue by the International Olympic Committee Executive Board.
Everything is laid out in detail, and there is transparency. In the past, nations went bust hosting an Olympics. Even First World nations like France struggled to host the Olympics in 2024, when Paris was the host city. You can be dead sure Ahmedabad will not scrounge for funds.
Why this is important, the IOC knows. India is no longer a dark nation. The growth has been phenomenal. Folks who visit Ahmedabad regularly will tell you what changes have taken place there. Sports infrastructure is already being built on a lavish scale.
As Dr PT Usha, President of the Indian Olympic Association, said: "For us, 'Rising Together' is not simply a slogan - it is a powerful commitment to unite India's energy, ambition and diversity behind a shared Olympic dream.
"As we develop our vision for 2036, we want to create a Games that reflects the confidence of a young, dynamic and rising India, while contributing to the Olympic and Paralympic Movements' ambition to reach new generations, new communities and new horizons around the world."
Hopefully, India will go ahead with the 2036 Summer Olympics plan in a positive spirit. There should be no opposition to it.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.