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Over the past few years, the Government of India has increased its focus on the country's athletes to ensure that performances at the Olympic Games improve with every edition. From three medals at the Rio Games in 2016 to seven in Tokyo in 2020, India have certainly made progress. The ministry expects the athletes to win at least 10 medals at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Helping athletes to do better on the biggest stage is the GOI's Target Olympic Podium Scheme or TOPS. This scheme has not only provided elite support to Indian athletes but also worked rigorously in talent identification and development, which is an important aspect of ensuring success in sports.
The TOP Scheme helps athletes with proper coaching and training infrastructure apart from strength and conditioning, nutrition, recovery from injury, equipment and apparel, and performance psychology. An MOC or Mission Olympic Cell has also been put into place to assist the athletes under the TOPS. The cell has people who are either former athletes or are associated with IOA, NSF, and other platforms.
Starting from approval of customized programs for athletes and recommendation of financial disbursements of the same to proper performance review and monitoring, this cell acts more or less like a guardian to the athletes.
Which athletes are benefitting from the TOP Scheme for Paris Olympics?
India have a large contingent for the Paris Olympics 2024, and many athletes who are assisted by the GOI's TOP Scheme are a part of it. The government has heavily invested in these athletes and most of them are expected to win medals in the upcoming Summer Games.
Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra is part of this scheme and the government has assisted in the hiring of his coach Dr. Klaus Bartonietz while also helping in Neeraj's pre-Olympic training in Europe. TOPS had helped in appointing Mathias Boe in 2022 for the Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty duo apart from providing them with a video analyst for the Paris Olympics.
PV Sindhu has also benefitted from the scheme. Apart from helping in the hiring of her coach Agus Dwi Santosso, TOPS helped in her 36-day training period in Saarbrucken, Germany, with her coach, S&C coach, and physio.
Other athletes who have benefitted from this initiative are weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, golfers Aditi Ashok and Shubhankar Sharma, shooters Anish Bhanwala, Manu Bhaker, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Sift Kaur Samra, Elavenil Valarivan.
Tennis star Rohan Bopanna and table tennis stalwarts Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal are also part of this scheme. Similarly, archers Deepika Kumari and Dhiraj Bommadevara, sailer Vishnu Saravanan and boxers Nikhat Zareen, former medalist Lovlina Borgohain, Amit Panghal and Nishant Dev, wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Antim Panghal, Aman Sehrawat and Reetika Hooda, swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu, and the Indian hockey team are benefitted by the TOP scheme.
