Rathore: India preparing hard for Tokyo Games
Indian sports minister determined to ensure athletes get top treatment for 2020
Aformer champion shooter himself, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore knows how lack of infrastructure can scuttle Olympic dreams and the Indian sports minister is determined to ensure his athletes get the best possible preparation for the Tokyo Games.
Rathore said the government was “leaving no stone unturned” to train 200 elite athletes for the 2020 Olympics and beyond under its Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) programme.
“With just one and half to two years left for the Tokyo Games, we are not only focusing on their training but also rehab if any athlete is injured,” Rathore said, sitting on a Swiss exercise ball which he uses as a chair in his office.
TOPS was rolled out in 2014 to identify elite athletes and provide them with world-class coaching and training facilities.
“From selection to funding, everything is managed by a set of people whom we have put under the TOPS,” said Rathore, who won the double-trap silver at the 2004 Athens Games.
“This team has high performance directors, CEOs, athlete relationship managers, researchers who are finding details about athletes’ toughest opponents in the top international circuit.”
More encouraging is the emergence of a bunch of young champions.
A 16-year old Manu Bhaker shot down the 10-metre air pistol gold at the ISSF Mexico World Cup in March, 20-year old Neeraj Chopra won the javelin gold in the last Commonwealth Games and 15-year-old Anish Bhanwala became the youngest Indian to win a Commonwealth gold in the 25-metre rapid fire pistol event.
Long a laggard at multi-sports Games, India finished third at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games ahead of more traditional sporting powers Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.
“I think the self-confidence is building up. A sense of selfbelief is building up. The athletes are feeding off each other and the whole environment in India is now feeding off itself,” said Rathore.
The Indian shooters have been performing exceptionally well at the world stage in recent times, which has been especially pleasing to former marksman Rathore.
“The shooting federation is the highest funded federation. Among the 200 elite athletes, about Rs2 billion (Dh109 million; $29.70 million) have been provided to shooters alone, much more than any other federation. So, we are investing into it.”
Apart from shooting, India have made longs strides in disciplines such as badminton, wrestling, boxing and archery.