Hosting can wait, focus on sports and infrastructure
The Olympics has always been the pinnacle of sporting extravaganza, where thousands of athletes worldwide showcase their extraordinary talents. At another level, it is also a reflection of a country’s economic, social and sporting prowess. Hosting it, too, has, besides other things, an aura of immense glamour. Of late, there has been criticism from both bidding and hosting nations over the rising costs of the Games that threaten to cripple the economy.
It happened in Greece after the 2004 Athens Olympics; even Brazil struggled with it before and after the Rio Games in 2016. Japan is expecting to claw back after the Tokyo Covid-affected Olympics, which at an estimated cost of $13 billion was one of the most expensive too. India wants to host it in 2036. After the successful National Games in Gujarat, there are enough indications—from the Gujarat government and the IOA—that India is serious about bringing the Olympics home. But are we ready?
In recent times, there were occasions when host cities dropped out of the bidding because it attracted public wrath. Brisbane was the only city that remained in the bidding process for the 2032 Olympics. According to reports, it had pledged that all spending would be covered through private funding. Back home, though the 2010 Commonwealth Games was not even close to the Olympics in scale and honour, it spent at least ten times more than its original cost.
For a country like India, where a few sports dominate the psyche of the masses, hosting a multi-discipline event comprising more than 28 sports will always be daunting. We ought to change our mindset, imbibe a robust sporting culture and endeavour to climb to the top of the Olympic Games medals tally before even considering bidding.
Though 2036 is a long way off, for athletes to succeed, a long-term development programme is a must. Investing in the grassroots would help yield results, translating into medals. We have yet to reach the double-figure mark in the medals tally. Even in disciplines, we are good at, we are not in double figures. Modern-day disciplines like climbing, surfing, e-sports, and skateboarding are in a nascent stage. We must concentrate on developing sports and infrastructure throughout the country rather than hosting mega-events. Else, all infrastructure built for Olympics would later stand as a symbol of wasted resources, unutilised and abandoned.