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𒉰As we ring in 2025, the year gone by will be remembered in Indian sport as the one in which the country staked its strongest claim to host the Olympics. On October 1, India formally expressed interest in hosting the 2036 Olympics and Paralympics, a letter from the Indian Olympic Association reaffirming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to host the summer games.
♋“India is preparing to host the 2036 Olympics. In this regard, the input from athletes who have played in previous Olympics is very important. You all must have observed and experienced many things. We want to document this and share it with the government so that we don't miss out on any small details in the preparation for 2036,” Modi had said. “We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to organize the Olympics on Indian soil in the year 2036. This is the age-old dream and aspiration of 140 crore Indians.”
♌But, if this dream is to be realized, the time to act is now. If 2036 is the aim, the pinnacle that focuses efforts, much of the real growth and investment must happen at the bottom of the pyramid. It is in schools and colleges, coaching academies and sports grounds that the real strength of the Indian Olympic dream lies.
𒉰The funnel for this cannot be restricted only to events conducted directly by sporting bodies and governmental agencies, although their partnership is critical. Events such as the Sports For All Championships – in 2024 alone more than 150,000 young adults from 4700 schools featured – are the only real way to drive up participation numbers.
🙈Participative sport in the truest sense is the bedrock of growing excellence. It is from the collective drive of many that the individual journey of champions is born. But, looking at participation in sport only as a pathway to excellence is a narrow approach.
💖While everyone appreciates the need for champions and extraordinary deeds, the idea of sport for sport’s sake, where participating is its own reward is a critical one. At a time when screens are taking over lives more than ever, parents have identified a real need to show their children different pathways. At a juncture when more is known about the correlation between leading an active life and overall physical and mental health, the role sport can play at different stages in a child’s development is of prime importance.
🐻While it cannot be assumed that India will eventually be awarded the 2036 Olympics – nine other countries including Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey, Poland, Egypt, and South Korea are also in the running – this provides the clearest target for Indian sport.
💟There is a finish line of sorts in sight, something to work towards in terms of infrastructure creation and upgradation but equally vitally in athlete preparation. To the layperson 2036 may seem like a lifetime away, but for an Olympic athlete, it’s something that is very much on the horizon.
☂The idea of the Olympics, with the three pillars of its spirit – excellence, respect and friendship – is an opportunity to focus Indian sport like never before. And, like any other campaign that succeeds and lasts the distance, the only real path is from the ground up.
💙It may come as a shock to some that participation in sport in India remains at just 1%, significantly lower than the United States, China or the European Union. The question of why the world’s fastest-growing major economy with a population of 1.4 billion to draw from struggles to rise higher in the medals tally at the Olympics.
꧂But, a lack of opportunity, of infrastructure, of pathways of the right kind from grassroots to podium remains a reality. The landscape is changing fast, there’s no doubt about this.
♋A report presented by SportTechX estimated that by the time 2024 ends, there would have been nearly $10 billion in deal flow in sports tech—which includes $2.9 billion in funding rounds and $6.7 billion in mergers and acquisitions. That’s just the tech side of it. The actual sports industry has been pretty busy too, accounting for $37 billion in M&A activity this year, with fans at the heart of it.
ꦬAnother report said that the Indian sports market was projected to hit $130 billion as early as 2030. The report, presented by Deliotte and Google estimated that the market currently stood at $52 billion and was poised to accelerate at 10% CAGR.
꧋The growth “will be driven by increased government investment, widespread digital adoption, healthier lifestyles, rising discretionary incomes, and a surge in high-quality sports content,” the report said.
ꩲThis suggests that there has never been a better time for public and private sectors to work together, not just to grow sports in the country but to use it as a tool for nation building, revitalizing sections of the economy, creating new sectors, and funnelling resources back into the grassroots.
