Bindra, Gopichand named in India's Olympic task force
Nation's only Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra and former Olympian and badminton Coach Pullela Gopichand have been named in the Sports Ministry's eight member task force to prepare a detailed action plan for the next three Olympic Games. Former hockey captain Viren Rasquinha will be the head of the 'Olympic Gold Quest.' The committee will submit its report to the Sports-Ministry and the PMO.
India's performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics
India sent its largest ever delegation of 118 athletes (63 men and 54 women) at the 2016 Rio Olympics to participate in 15 sports. But the athletes returned with only two medals, a silver in badminton by PV Sindhu and a bronze in wrestling by Sakshi Malik. Shooter Abhinav Bindra and gymnast Dipa Karmakar missed the bronze medals by a whisker.
Sports Minister stress on early preparations for 2020 Olympics
Sports Minister Vijay Goel stressed on the need of early planning and preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He also said that he would expect more than 200 athletes to qualify for the next Olympics. The Sports Ministry asked the National Sports Federations (NSFs) to look for potential medalists so as to give them proper training.
PM Modi announces task force for next three Olympics
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that a 'Task Force' will be set up to boost India's performance in the future Olympic Games. A statement from the PMO said, "The task force will be set up to prepare a comprehensive action plan for effective participation of Indian sports persons in the next three Olympic games 2020, 2024 and 2028."
What will be the aim of the Task Force?
The main aim of the task force would be to prepare a strategy for improvement of facilities, spell out selection norms and better training facilities, and would comprise of both in-house and foreign experts.
Other members of the committee
Journalist Rajesh Karla, School Sports Promotion Foundation's Om Pathak, Hockey coach S. Baldev Singh, Professor and Dean (Exercise and Physiology) at Faculty of Applied Sciences G. L. Khanna and Director General of Sports Authority of Gujarat Sandeep Pradhan are the other five-members on the committee.
