Rajaraman in Mumbai covering the IOC session for RevSportz
The undercurrent around a campaign to grant the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach an extension in office beyond 2025 was palpable on the opening day of the 141st IOC Session on Sunday.
A day ahead of the formal confirmation of Cricket as one of the new disciplines on the programme of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, it was the presence of five Indian teenagers, beneficiaries of the Olympic Value Education Programme (OVEP), at the podium in the Jio World Centre had a more immediate impact.
IOC Athlete Commission member Abhinav Bindra, who competed in five Olympics and won the 10m Air Rifle gold medal in 2008, introduced OVEP in India. He told the IOC Session that being part of OVEP brought him joy and fulfilment. It is a part of the IOC’s Olympism365 strategy that uses sport to impact people’s lives in education, employment, inclusion, health, peace and safety.
“A young audience in India is experiencing the same values (friendship, respect and excellence) I cherish,” Abhinav Bindra said, beaming with pride and joy, before introducing the five children from Odisha as friends he made through OVEP.
It is a measure of the success of the programme that Soumya Ranjan, Suchismita Sahu, Bharati Sabar, Pratyasha Sahu and Mohammed Noorain all wore an air of assurance when they walked onto the stage upon being introduced by Abhinav Bindra. Far from being overawed by the sense of the occasion, they were confident as they took centre stage.
Bharati Sabar, who dreams of playing football for India in the Olympic Games, said OVEP helped her enjoy new experiences, like taking part in mixed-gender football team in school. “I think many girls like me can benefit from such opportunities. All of us have different challenges in our lives but also many similarities. This is what makes life beautiful,” she said.
Mohammed Noorain, who seeks to excel in chess and become a professional artist, said OVEP helped him become more disciplined and structured. “I have begun to appreciate the importance of giving one’s best and not regret losing,” he said. “I have learnt how to make new friends and interact with others.”
He got everyone in splits by revealing that it was the second IOC Session that he was attending. “I attended the first model IOC Session in our school. I was President of IOC in that Session,” he said. From his position as Chair, IOC President Thomas Bach broke into a wide smile and interjected: “He promised me yesterday not to take over (my chair) today!”
A kilometre or so away, the quintet’s teachers like Rachita Nayak and Maitri Das watched the proceedings being streamed from the Jio World Centre, with pride in their hearts, secure in their knowledge that they had played a part not only in the journeys of the five children but also done in making the Olympic Value Education Programme take root in Odisha.
Despite being show-stoppers on Sunday, the five youngsters remained grounded when RevSportz met them in their modest hotel rooms just as they were preparing to visit the Gateway of India a second time in two days. If they were anxious to go out without losing time, they did well not to show that, patiently answering questions and satiating their own curiosity.
The teenagers are well aware that their presence in the IOC Session and time with the IOC President Thomas Bach was not an outcome in itself, but a part of the process of enjoying sport and imbibing Olympic values. They were embodiments of the joy of effort, which is at the heart of the Olympic Value Education Programme.
“We know that we will go back to our daily routines,” Soumya Ranjan, who aspires to be a data scientist, said rather matter-of-factly. “But the chance to stand before so many Olympic champions will help us more when we encourage all our schoolmates to play sport and learn Olympic values like friendship, respect and excellence,” she said.
To say that the Odisha quintet was thrilled to be part of the IOC Session is to state the obvious. Suchismita Sahu, who wants to help young students achieve a balanced and healthy life, and Pratyasha Sahu, who aspires to be a doctor, represented the down-to-earth nature of their friends when they spoke of how OVEP ushered in concepts of fair play and integrity in all areas of life.
OVEP has reached more than 250,000 children and 700 teachers in 350 schools in Odisha. “Thanks to OVEP, students’ attendance is up by 12 per cent, and over 15,000 girls have taken part in sports for the first time. Mixed-gender games are now common; they foster safe interactions between girls and boys and create an environment of learning and respect,” Abhinav Bindra said.