India eyes 2024 Paris Olympics with athlete-centric ‘Mission Olympic Cell’



As India eyes a stellar show at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Indian football icon Bhaichung Bhutia, Olympics Long Jump medallist Anju Bobby George and former Indian hockey team captains Viren Rasquinha & Sardara Singh are among the former athletes who have been included in the Mission Olympic Cell (MOC).

Declaring the complete list of Non Official Members for MOC, Union Minister for I&B and Youth Affairs & Sports Anurag Singh Thakur said, “ We're making India's preparations stronger for the Paris Olympics 2024. Happy to announce & welcome 7 more top international athletes to the Mission Olympic Cell. Their experience will add richly towards creating an athlete-centric ecosystem at the highest level.”

Preparations for the 2024 Olympics are underway and the rich experience of the former athletes on the MOC will strongly benefit our sportspersons, the Sports Minister tweeted.

https://twitter.com/PBNS_India/status/1466332560900833283?s=20

The other members who have been included in MOC are Rifle Shooting Legend Anjali Bhagwat, Table Tennis Star Monalisa Mehta and Ace Shuttler Trupti Murgunde.

Further, Olympian sailor and sports science specialist Dr. Malav Shroff will continue to be in the MOC. President Athletics Federation of India Adile Sumeriwala, President Athletic Federation of India and CEO TOPS Commodore Pushpendra Garg are other former players included in MOC.

In addition to that, Arjun Munda, Cabinet Minister, Ajay Singh and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by virtue of being President of Archery Association of India, Boxing Federation of India and Wrestling Federation of India will be part of the Olympics cell.

What does MOC do ?

Part of the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) scouts athletes for financial assistance under the prestigious Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). The cell also focuses on selection, exclusion and retention of athletes, coaches, training institutes that can receive TOPS assistance.

As per the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the number of former athletes as core members of the revamped MOC have been doubled, to make it even more athlete-centric than it has been ever before.

"MOC drives India's Olympics Preparation through Target Olympics Podium (TOPS) initiative of the Ministry. This has been done to accelerate India's progress on the global sports stage," an official statement mentioned.

Understanding Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS)

Target Olympic Podium Scheme is a flagship program of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports which is an attempt to provide assistance to India’s top athletes. The Scheme looks to add a premium to the preparations of these athletes so that they can win medals in major events like the Olympics, Paralympics, Asian Games, CWG, and more.

The Scheme currently supports 104 TOPS Core Group athletes across 13 sports disciplines & Indian Men’s and Women’s Hockey teams and 269 TOPS Development Group athletes across 12 sports disciplines which are being supported for future mega-events like the 2024 Paris Games and 2028 Los Angeles Games.

How TOPS has impacted Indian Olympics & Paralympics performances ?

To uplift the performance at the Olympics and the Paralympic, The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports started the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) in September 2014. And from there, the results were immediate. The TOPS-sponsored athletes gained relative success at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

P V Sindhu and Sakshi Malik captured silver and bronze in Badminton and Wrestling at the 2016 Rio Olympics. And, in the 2016 Paralympic Games, the TOPS Athletes won 2 Gold, 1 Silver, and 1 Bronze demonstrating the effectiveness of the Scheme. In the 2018 Gold coast Commonwealth Games, 70 athletes won medals and 47 of them were supported under the TOP Scheme.