Bhaichung, Anju Bobby George among 7 new members of Mission Olympic Cell
Shooting legend Anjali Bhagwat, badminton ace Trupti Murgunde, former hockey skipper and CEO of Olympic Gold Quest Viren Rasquinha, and table tennis star Monalisa Mehta were the other former athletes added to the MOC tasked to steer 2024 Paris Olympics preparation through the Target Olympics Podium Scheme (TOPS), an initiative of the sports ministry.
Former hockey captain Sardar Singh, long-jump icon Anju Bobby George and Indian football legend Bhaichung Bhutia were among the seven new members of the Mission Olympic Cell (MOC), as the country looks to build on its success at the Tokyo Olympics, an official government release said on Wednesday.
Shooting legend Anjali Bhagwat, badminton ace Trupti Murgunde, former hockey skipper and CEO of Olympic Gold Quest Viren Rasquinha, and table tennis star Monalisa Mehta were the other former athletes added to the MOC tasked to steer 2024 Paris Olympics preparation through the Target Olympics Podium Scheme (TOPS), an initiative of the sports ministry.
“The inputs by former athletes in the incumbent MOC played a significant role in supporting the training and competition of the athletes who competed in Tokyo 2020 and won 7 medals & 19 in Para Olympic Games,” sports minister Anurag Thakur said.
Olympian sailor and sports science specialist Malav Shroff, along with Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president Adile Sumariwalla and TOPS CEO Commodore Pushpendra Garg are also part of the MOC, which will be chaired by Sandip Pradhan, director-general of the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
Narinder Dhruv Batra, Union minister Arjun Munda, Ajay Singh, and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh will all be part of the MOC by virtue of being presidents of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Archery Association of India, Boxing Federation of India, and Wrestling Federation of India respectively.
CEO and joint CEO of TOPS will act as the convenor and co-convenor of the MOC respectively. The executive director of the SAI teams department and ministry of youth affairs and sports (MYAS) will be part of the committee.
MOC has been set up by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to select athletes for financial assistance under the TOPS and prepare them for the Olympic Games. The MOC also focuses on the selection, exclusion, and retention of athletes, coaches, training institutes that can receive TOPS assistance.
The Indian contingent returned with a record seven medals, including a historic athletics gold, from the Tokyo Olympics, followed by the para athletes’ stellar show at the ensuing Paralympics in the Japanese capital.