Purely from monetary terms, the Olympics is a $15 billion event. India wants to host it in 2036, but is it a logical idea for a country that is not a sporting superpower? Far from it.
Mahesh Bhupathi, former World No. 1 doubles player and winner of multiple Grand Slam titles, answered in the affirmative. “We must host the Olympics, be it in 2036 or 2046,” he said at the RevSportz Trailblazers 3.0 Conclave on Friday.
Bhupathi knows the challenges that sport, cricket aside, faces in India. “The BCCI filters down the money to the U-14 level; to the districts and villages. The BCCI is a private organisation. It has the money. But other sports can’t do that.”
Bhupathi spoke about Maaya Rajeshwaran, currently training at Rafael Nadal’s academy in Spain and is widely considered to be the next big thing in Indian tennis. “Tennis is a big world and we are talking about just one Maaya. In Spain, for example, they have 30-40 Maayas,” Bhupathi put things in perspective.
Still, he thinks India should host the Olympics, for that would create a sporting impetus. Saurav Ghosal, the squash ace, agreed. “It’s important to create that impetus,” he said.
Pullela Gopichand, the former All England champion and the chief coach of the Indian badminton team, spoke about how India failed to carry forward the success of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, where they won 107 medals. “We didn’t have the infrastructure then. It’s much better now.”
Adille Sumariwalla, vice-president, World Athletics, said: “We must focus on sports that have multiple medal opportunities.”
The consensus was that India should host the 2036 Olympics to create the impetus for the development of sport in the country.
The session, moderated by Prantik Mazumdar and Gargi Raut, was titled – Are We Olympic Ready?