India targets 12 gold medals at 2036 Olympics

NEW DELHI: India has raised its medal ambitions for future Olympic Games many fold as the country seriously aims to win the hosting rights of the 2036 edition, with only considering the middle east nation of Qatar as its strong rival.


From the Paris Games’ no-gold show in 2024, India is aiming to pocket 12-14 gold medals and a total of 30-35 medals at the 2036 edition of the Summer Games. The benchmark has been set higher for the 2048 Olympics at 30-35 gold and an overall 100 medals. This is the country’s 10-year medal strategy plan that has received Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nod.




Till date, India’s Olympic history included 10 gold medals, but only two individual gold; the rest came from the dominant men’s field hockey team (8 gold), with individual gold won by shooter Abhinav Bindra (2008 Beijing) and javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra (2020 Tokyo).


Union sports secretary Hari Ranjan Rao, during his address at a Sports Governance Conclave in Ahmedabad on Friday, gave an exhaustive presentation on India’s sporting ambitions for coming years and how to transform nation into a global sporting powerhouse like China and USA.


“In 2036, we must get 12 to 14 gold and 30 to 35 total medals to be in the top 10 and, in the 2048 Olympics, 35-40 gold and around 100 total medals. Then only we can be in the top-5 club,” Rao said. “All the major countries improved their rank substantially when they hosted the Games. China started ‘Project 119’ before the 2008 Beijing Games. They focused on five disciplines, athletics, swimming, rowing, kayaking-canoeing and sailing for 119 medals. These were disciplines in which China was not known to win too many medals. In Beijing, they got 48 gold and, in these five games, they managed eight gold. This is the kind of focus that is expected from all of us, and we need to think where we are,” he added.


Rao also spoke about India’s medal ambitions at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow (July 23-Aug 2) and Asian Games in Japan (Sept 19-Oct 4). “The current medal estimate for the Asiad stands at 111. At the previous edition in Hangzhou, India had its best-ever haul of 106 medals. It (the estimate) can go wrong or be bettered many times, which will require a lot of effort. CWG Glasgow would be a bit of a showstopper. Three gold and 22 total medals are expected because it’s a truncated Games,” he said.


Rao also warned the NSFs and sports officials against treating forthcoming multisport events as an “outing with family” and said such conduct will not be tolerated. “It would be shameful if a large contingent of officials goes and not one is available when the athlete needs them. They have to be there 100 percent of the time for the athletes. Please don’t go if you think of this as an outing with family and relatives. We don’t need you. Don’t bring a bad name to the country by going there,” he added.


The conclave was attended by sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Gujarat’s deputy chief minister and sports minister Harsh Sanghavi, Rao, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president P T Usha, other IOA top officials and national sports federations’ (NSFs) heads and secretaries.


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