Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya calls for accelerated talent identification to build India’s 2036 Olympic athlete pool

Taking forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a nationwide sports talent hunt from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya today called for an accelerated and comprehensive talent identification roadmap to build India’s athlete pool for the 2036 Olympics.

Chairing the 63rd Governing Body Meeting of the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Dr. Mandaviya emphasised that the groundwork for India’s sporting ambitions over the next decade must begin now. “The plan for the next 10 years before we see the Olympics being hosted in the nation has to start in full swing right from this moment,” the Hon’ble Minister said.

In line with the Prime Minister’s call to identify and nurture sporting talent across the country, Dr. Mandaviya said SAI must strengthen its talent scouting mechanism and put in place a structured system for identifying athletes with the potential to progress to the highest level.

“Talent identification should happen in two distinct stages: first, identifying athletes who are performing well at the state and district levels, and then mapping those athletes to assess their potential and determine whether they possess the fitness, passion, dedication and ability to progress to the next level,” he added.

He said talent identification should cover the entire sporting pyramid, including schools, districts and colleges. “The aim should be to build a comprehensive talent repository that can subsequently feed into sports schools and higher-level training systems,” he mentioned.

Dr. Mandaviya further emphasised the need to develop a public-private partnership (PPP) model to expand the training ecosystem. Under such a framework, athletes identified through State and district-level talent hunts could be channelled to suitable academies for specialised training.

He also underlined the important role of the corporate sector in expanding sports development through greater CSR participation. Such partnerships would help augment the country’s training capacity beyond government-run facilities and create a wider network of academies for athletes emerging from the talent identification system.