Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur affirmed that India will be at the forefront of bidding for the Summer Olympics in 2036 and the Youth Olympics in 2030, whilst speaking at the Rising Bharat Summit 2024 on Wednesday. Thakur said that sports is a soft power that the country is looking to capitalise upon and that it should be leading public discourse given the present circumstances.
The Member of Parliament (MP) from Harmipur, who holds two cabinet rank portfolios, i.e. Information and Brodcasting along with Youth Affairs and Sports, mentioned that Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi had outlined India's objective of playing hosts to the Olympic Games during the International Olympic Committee (IOC) session held in Mumbai in October last year.
Thakur also pinpointed the fact that the Indian contingent has returned with record hauls in both the Tokyo Olympics (seven medals) and in the Hangzhou Asian Games (107 medals) last year. Ranked seventh, Indian athletes also won 26 medals including 11 golds, five silvers, and 10 bronze ones at the FISU World University Games 2023.
"I would like sports to be kept ahead in discussions in the pecking order. It’s a soft power. We have won our best-ever haul in the Olympics, World University Games, and the Asian Games, our highest-ever tally. PM Modi has clarified, and even during the IOC session, he mentioned that India is ready for the conduction of the Olympics," Thakur said during the discussion.
"We will be at the forefront to bid when the bidding process begins. India will host the Youth Olympics in 2030 and the Summer Olympics in 2036. We will be the third biggest economy and thus we will have a lot of youth potential too," he added. It needs to be noted that this will be the first time India will be bidding for the iconic quadrennial competition.
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Hailing from Himachal Pradesh, Thakur has been actively involved in sports administration in the last two decades. He has served as a four-time president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) and held the same post for a brief period between 2016-17 in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as well. Thakur touched upon the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala, which hosted several ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 matches and also the final Test of the five-match series between India and England this year.
Thakur appreciated the tourism potential that the cricketing infrastructure has brought to the state, saying, "The touring England team said that the best stadium in the world is in Dharamshala. Around 4000 people flew from the United Kingdom to see the Test in Dharamshala, which speaks volumes about the boost that it gives to the local economy of the region."
First Published: Mar 20, 2024 1:40 PM IST
