2032 Olympics possible in India, says IOC president Thomas Bach

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has visited India to tap ‘India’s potential’ in Olympic sport after a successful 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Bach on Thursday, held a meeting with sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra and agreed on a fact that a working group is needed to bring in international expertise on sports science and coaches to prepare Indian athletes for the Tokyo Olympics.

“My visit could not have come at a better time. I congratulate IOA and Indian athletes for the grand success they achieved at the Commonwealth Games with 66 medals. The athletes have set a great example and sent a strong signal of their potential,” Bach, said on Thursday while addressing the media.

"But it's not the time to discuss in detail about future candidates as no procedure is currently open neither for Olympic Games nor for Youth Olympics. The next available slot for Youth Olympics is 2026 but we are even yet to decide on 2022 edition host city, the process is underway. Only after we finalise 2022 Youth Olympics hosts, we will start the procedure for 2026," said Bach.

“We hope India will be able to tap into its great potential, win as many medals with a strong performance at the Olympic stage. The IOC today met the executive board of the IOA under Mr Batra, and also had a meeting with the sports minister. We have discussed the issue and made an offer, which has been accepted by the IOA and the sports minister.”

 “We have decided to form a working group with IOC, Olympic Council of Asia, IOA and the sports ministry to devise a road map where the most hopeful athletes from India will be best prepared for 2020 Tokyo Olympics with international expertise at their disposal.”

“We have offered assistance and co-operation to the IOA to help in the matter of sports science, coaching, etc. I think it is a good initiative for the athletes of India and we are hopeful of seeing excellent results.”