New Delhi : India will form a task force to prepare for the next three Olympics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday. The country had a disappointing medal tally at Rio.
The special team of experts will chalk out a broad strategy to ensure effective participation of athletes in the 2020, 2024 and 2028 Games, while aiming to improve their sports facilities and training as well as their selection process.
A string of below-par performances saw the country win just two medals at the recent Games, fewer than the six clinched during their best-ever performance in London four years earlier. The task force will be set up over the next few days. A nation obsessed with cricket, India has never finished high on the medal table – winni ng just 28 from 24 Olympic appearances.
Badminton champion PV Sindhu clinched silver at the Rio Games and wrestler Sakshi Malik won bronze, sparking an outpouring of national pride and celebrations. But it was far below the sports ministry’s target of 10 medals in Rio, where it had sent its largest ever squad.
Indian athletes often complain of substandard training facilities and a lack of government investment in sport. The government had said it spent about 1.2 billion rupees ($18 million) preparing the athletes for Rio — a fraction of the amount forked out by China, Britain and other countries.
