Tokyo should remain the benchmark and source of inspiration till at least Paris 2024. In the shorter run, India's preparations for the Asian and Commonwealth Games next year must begin based on lessons learnt now, asserts Raj Kishore Mishra, former joint secretary at the sports ministry.
The IOA also said that the decision will now relieve the Indian athletes of having to train amidst lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Images from the felicitation for India's Tokyo Olympics medal-winners, in Delhi, on Monday.
The sheer diversity of medal winners was a heartwarming aspect of the Games for India. There were medals from squash, although not gold, there were nine medals from boxing, 12 from wrestling, 16 from shooting and nine from weightlifting.
It was gold rush for India on the opening day of the South Asian Games with the country's wrestlers, swimmers and weightlifters showing their regional dominance by making a near clean sweep of top honours on Saturday. India clinched 14 gold and five silver medals on a highly productive day to top the medals tally with an overall count of 19.Sri Lanka, despite having a higher overall medal count of 21, occupied the second spot in the table owing to alesser tally of gold medals (4). Wrestlers were the stars for India, grabbing as many as five gold medals followed by the swimmers who clinched four gold and three silver medals. The weightlifters added three gold medals to the tally after the cyclists had opened India's account with two gold and an equal number of silver medals in the morning. Three women and two male grapplers finished on top of the podium as the proceedings went on expected lines on the opening day of the competitions.
Virat Kohli sent the shutterbugs into a clicking frenzy as he received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
The Indian contingent's schedule in the Rio Olympics for Saturday.
India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday dropped hints that he may just make a return from injury in Royal Challengers Bangalore's Indian Premier League encounter against Mumbai Indians on April 14.
An overview of India's underwhelming performance in athletics
The man with the golden arm could surpass some, if not all, top cricketers -- the demigods who stand well above athletes from other disciplines in India
Despite being absolved of the dope charge, weightlifter Monika Devi's chances of taking part in the Beijing Olympics were dashed on Sunday, as the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) rejected her entry in the competition. The Indian Olympic Association's request to allow Monika to participate was turned down by the IWF, IOA president Suresh Kalmadi said in a statement in Beijing.
India's triumphant Tokyo Olympics contingent, including history-making Javelin Throw gold-medallist Neeraj Chopra, returned to the country on Monday and was greeted by frenzy and chaos at the New Delhi airport, where supporters jostled to catch a glimpse of their sporting heroes.
India ran away with opening day honours in the weightlifting competition of the 20th Commonwealth Games with Sukhen Dey and K Sanjita Chanu winning the gold medal in their respective events in Glasgow.
Defending champion Sathish Sivalingam (77kg) claimed India's third gold medal at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday, emerging triumphant despite having given up podium hopes after his injured thighs made even routine things like sitting painful.
Delhi boy Tejaswin Shankar produced a record-shattering performance as Indians struck two gold and a silver medal to launch their Commonwealth Youth Games campaign on a rousing note in Apia, Samoa, on Monday.
Croatia clinched a place in next year's World Cup finals on Sunday after holding Greece to a goalless draw at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Athens to complete a 4-1 aggregate victory in their playoff tie.
Pratima Kumari tested positive even before the Games while Chanu was caught in the testing after her 53kg event.
India cricket captain Virat Kohli and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu were on Monday recommended for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna by the awards selection committee.
Iconic boxer MC Mary Kom and ace archer Deepika Kumari were told they need not say sorry after returning without medals while hockey player P R Sreejesh was asked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he has learnt Punjabi when he hosted the Tokyo-returned Olympians at his residence.
The contingent comprises 277 men and 247 women athletes. In the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, the Indian contingent featured 541 athletes across 28 disciplines.
Indian shooter Manu Bhaker won gold in women's 10m Air Pistol in Youth Olympics on Tuesday.
Women archers were on target in the individual events, while Manoj Kumar scripted a triumph of the underdog in the boxing ring on the fifth day of the Rio Games.
The Delhi batsman recently became the most successful India captain in Test cricket, surpassing Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
The Delhi High court issued notices on a petition filed by weightlifter Pratima Kumari challenging the life ban imposed on her
Indian athletes led the way in providing the Indian Olympic Association their feedback on how to restart national camps amid the coronavirus pandemic but a lot of national federations missed the deadline for submission of response, leaving IOA president Narinder Batra disappointed. On May 5, the IOA, while conceding that the risk of athletes losing motivation in the ongoing lockdown is real, sought their views along with those of coaches and other stakeholders on how to restart outdoor training.
In our country women in sports are not favoured because they are usually groomed to be homemakers. But the scenario is changing. Rediff.com lists the finest Indian women athletes whom we want to see in some form of sporting action.
India's limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma, star wrestler Vinesh Phogat, TT player Manika Batra and Paralympic gold-winning high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu were on Tuesday picked for this year's Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award by the sports ministry's selection committee.
For the 12th successive time, none could match up to India's regional might but the host country's record-breaking medal haul of 308 can hardly hide the fact that the standard of competition in the South Asian Games has failed to rise significantly.
This time, India may win as many as 17 medals at the Games.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
India's sports fraternity joined the nation on Sunday in saluting its essential services providers engaged in the fight against COVID-19 by clapping for them and sharing messages and videos of gratitude on social media.
The weightlifter, who tested positive at the Athens Olympics, is challenging the life ban imposed on her by the IOA in the Delhi high court.
'You always improve at each competition, the journey to arrive in the Olympics was not easy. I worked hard and I finally represented India at the Olympics, I have learnt a lot, I will definitely work harder to do better in the coming tournaments.'
Away from the cricket field, it was a year in which Sania Mirza was unarguably the biggest success story with her staggering 10 titles on the Tour -- two of them Grand Slams.
The Sydney Games bronze medallist in the 69 kg category limped out after failing in her first lift in the 63 kg event at Athens.
Do you agree that India could end up winning as many as 10 medals at Athens?
Saina Nehwal is only 22, but she's already etched her name in Indian sports folklore. She gave the country its first medal in badminton at the Olympics by winning the women's singles bronze at the London Games on Saturday.
The committee will also be suggesting measures for making the code acceptable to all the stakeholders so that a balance is struck between autonomy of National Sports Federations.
