PM Modi Calls for Bigger Olympic Push, Urges India to Compete in More Sports

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a broader and more ambitious approach to India’s Olympic preparation, arguing that the country cannot significantly improve its medal tally without competing in a much wider range of sports.

Speaking through a virtual interaction at the Khelo India Dialogue on August 27, Modi said India needs to identify talent much earlier, strengthen sporting ecosystems and prepare athletes for disciplines in which the country has traditionally had little or no representation.

India’s Olympic Challenge Starts Before the Games

Modi pointed to what he described as a major gap in India's Olympic strategy: participation itself.

According to the Prime Minister, India has historically competed in only a limited portion of the sports and events contested at the Olympics. He cited the 2012 London Olympics, where India participated in 13 sports, and argued that the country therefore misses opportunities to compete for medals in many other disciplines.

His message was straightforward: if India wants a much larger medal tally, it must first become competitive in more sports.

The focus, therefore, is not simply on producing more champions in established disciplines. It is also about finding athletes who could succeed in sports where India has traditionally had little presence.

Talent Hunt for the 2036 Olympics

A central part of the government's proposed strategy is a nationwide sports talent hunt for children aged 5 to 15.

Modi said potential athletes should be identified in villages, cities and schools, with their sporting interests and physical abilities assessed before being directed towards specialised training.

The idea is to build the athlete pipeline years before the 2036 Olympics rather than waiting until athletes reach senior international competition.

The government says the programme will provide identified youngsters with the necessary support and specialised training as they develop.

Looking Beyond India’s Traditional Strengths

The Prime Minister also highlighted several sports where India has significant geographical or natural advantages but limited international representation.

He specifically referred to areas such as surfing, sport climbing and winter sports, arguing that India's coastline, mountains and diverse geography could provide opportunities to develop athletes in disciplines that have received comparatively less attention.

This approach could potentially change how sporting talent is discovered.

Instead of expecting every aspiring athlete to move towards the country's most popular sports, the long-term objective would be to identify which disciplines best match an individual's abilities and then build specialised training systems around them.

Building the Sporting Ecosystem

Modi also stressed that producing Olympic athletes requires more than identifying talented youngsters.

India needs a system covering coaching, sports science, nutrition, medicine, technology and advanced training facilities.

The Prime Minister highlighted the development of specialised sports universities and training centres, as well as greater international cooperation to learn from established sporting systems around the world.

The government has also been pushing the Khelo India programme as a platform for identifying and nurturing young athletes. Earlier this month, Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya called for an accelerated talent-identification roadmap to create India's athlete pool for the 2036 Olympics.

The 2036 Ambition

India's Olympic ambitions extend beyond medals.

The government has repeatedly stated its intention to pursue hosting the 2036 Olympic Games, while the country is also scheduled to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games. Modi again connected the development of India's sports ecosystem with the longer-term 2036 Olympic vision.

Hosting an Olympics would require significant sporting infrastructure and organisational capacity. But the Prime Minister's latest message places equal emphasis on what happens before athletes ever reach the Olympic stage: finding talent, developing it and creating pathways for international competition.

From Medal Winners to a Wider Sporting Culture

Modi also framed the sports push as something larger than the pursuit of medals.

He argued that sports can contribute to discipline, resilience, fitness and youth development, while creating new career opportunities in areas such as sports technology, medicine, nutrition, psychology and analytics.

He also encouraged schools to treat physical education as a more important part of everyday life rather than merely an extracurricular activity.

The broader message is that India needs to create a culture in which more children participate in sport and more talented youngsters have a realistic pathway to elite competition.

A Long Road to 2036

India's Olympic medal ambitions will ultimately depend on how effectively these ideas are implemented.

Finding children with sporting potential is only the first step. Consistent coaching, quality facilities, competition exposure, injury management and long-term financial support will be crucial if those young athletes are to eventually compete against the world's best.

The 2036 Olympics are still a decade away, giving India considerable time to build that pipeline.

For now, Modi's latest call represents a shift in emphasis: India's Olympic challenge is not only about winning more medals—it is about competing in more of the events where those medals are available.

If the proposed talent hunt and wider sporting ecosystem succeed, the next generation of Indian athletes could enter the international arena with opportunities that previous generations never had.

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