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What’s The Story?
India should host an Olympics unless the country wins enough gold medals, feels Beijing Games gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra. According to him, India is not ready to host the Olympics now, as the system will not be able to take care of such an event.
He further added that the Olympics will help the respective city to build the infrastructure, but that can be done even without hosting the event. India should invest in the youth development and athletes so that a realistic chance of winning 40 gold medals occurs, feels the former shooter.
The Context:
Bindra won gold in Beijing and finished fourth in Rio Olympics. He has seen the Olympics closely and he knows what it takes to host such a mega event. India has hosted major sports events like Commonwealth Games and the FIFA U-17 World Cup, apart from cricketing events as well. There were a lot of discrepancies during the Commonwealth Games and perhaps that led Bindra to say this.
The Heart of the Matter:
It is a fact that Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world. It’s even bigger than the FIFA World Cup and hosting such an event is not a joke.
“I’m against hosting an Olympic Games at this stage in India. I think our system is not ready to absorb that,” Bindra said. “It can have some sort of positive benefits in building infrastructure in the city but that can be done without hosting an Olympics.
“We need to invest in our youth, we need to invest on our athletes, that should be the priority and then when we are in a position to realistically win at least 40 gold medals in the Olympic Games," he further said. "For me personally, that would be the right moment to host an Olympic Games."
What’s Next?
It is hard to say if his words will be heard but what Bindra said has logic behind it. India needs to win more medals first, or else there is no point of hosting Olympics.
Author’s Take:
India should nurture the youth and also give the world-class facilities to our athletes. Only then will the change come.
