Bengaluru: Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has set an ambitious target of 'double-figure' medals at the Tokyo 2020 games to strengthen their bid to host the 2032 Olympics. IOA president Narinder Batra said that a good performance in the Tokyo Olympics will have a significant role to play in the lead up to India's potential bid for the 2032 Olympics.
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However, in 2016 Rio Olympics India bagged just two medals. India's best performance came at the 2012 London Olympics when they clinched six medals.
“The target [for 2020] is double-figure medals,” said Batra. “Then, if we have to bid for the 2032 Olympics, the target should be 25 medals in 2024 and 35-40 medals by 2028. Otherwise, they won't even allow you to bid. You have make sure the performance is such.”
In February this year, the IOC had to shelf India's bid for all big-ticket events after Indian government denied Pakistan shooters visas for the 2019 Shooting World Cup.
In November 2018, the IOA was let off with a warning for refusing visa to a boxer from Kosovo. But Batra was confident that the issues would be sorted out soon.
“I have met Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and I am hopeful. The Pakistan issue is different. Now it is mainly Kosovo. IOC's rules are that all member countries’ athletes have to be given visa. But India doesn't recognise Kosovo. There is now a discussion but we can resolve it. Even Russia doesn't recognise Kosovo but it has hosted events. It will be sorted.”
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“India will be a country which will host many events. We are looking at 2026 Youth Olympic games, and the IOC Congress in 2021. We have also expressed our interest to host the 2030 Asian Games so that the infrastructure will be ready early and it will just be a two-year gap to the Olympics.”
However, Batra kept the choice for the host city wide open, dubbing Bhubaneswar as the 'sports capital of India'. "We will decide that in 2025. Mumbai, Delhi….right now we are calling Bhubaneswar as the sports capital of India. We are allowed three cities, so it can be anywhere. The only condition is that it has to have an international airport.”
