It feels good when hard work pays off. Thus, as Indians, it is time for us to feel good now as the nation’s push towards sports is coming to fruition. After performing extremely well in the Tokyo Olympics 2020, India is all set to host the International Olympic Committee session after 40 years.
India wins bid to host 2023 IOC session
India successfully bid for the 2023 International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) session at the 139th IOC session. India will host the session in Mumbai. It is pertinent to note that India will host the session for the first time since 1983. The session reportedly will be hosted at the state-of-the-art, brand new Jio World Convention Centre.
Historic 99% of the votes in favour of Mumbai led the country to win the bid from the delegates participating in the process.
Nita Ambani, the Indian representative on the committee, is the first woman to be elected as an IOC member from India. She stated, “The Olympic Movement is back to India after a 40-year wait. I am truly grateful to the International Olympic Committee for entrusting India with the honour of hosting the IOC Session in Mumbai in 2023.”
She further added, “This will be a significant development for India’s Olympic aspirations and will herald the start of a new era for Indian sport.”
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, and India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra also accompanied Ambani during the bidding.
Anurag Thakur soon took to Twitter to express his pleasure over the same. He tweeted, “A historic moment as the International Olympic Committee Session is coming to India in 2023! Indian sport has made giant strides in recent years. Excited and proud to have been a part of the Indian delegation for this landmark occasion. #StrongerTogether #IOCSession2023.”
India and the sports revolution
India gave its best-ever performance at Tokyo Olympics 2020 with seven medals, including one gold, two silver and four bronze medals. It is not only a testament to the hard work put in by the athletes but also the efforts of their country and government in terms of facilities and resources which empower them.
India has witnessed a lot of changes under the Modi Government in a bid to improve the sports sector. These changes include budgets, priorities of the government and the personal involvement of the top leadership.
Financial allocation for the sports industry has increased gradually. In the Financial Year 2020, the Budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports stood at Rs 2,826.92 crore.
Read more: 7 medals at Olympics- How Modi government is empowering India’s athletes
The biggest development towards improvement of the sporting scene in India has however been the “Khelo India” programme. The official website of the programme states that it has been introduced to “revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root level by building a strong framework for all sports played in our country and establish India as a great sporting nation.”
All these efforts are now coming to culmination and India will finally host the IOC session after a wait of 40 years.