ID :
16633
Fri, 08/22/2008 - 16:19
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/16633
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London 2012 Olympics beckon a resurgent India By Prasun Sonwalkar
over but people of Indian origin here are convinced that India’s medal tally will be much higher in London 2012 than that notched by Abhinav Bindra, Sushil Kumar and VijenderKumar at Beijing.
The London-based steel baron, Lakshmi Mittal, has already committed funds to support the Indian contingent forthe London event through his Mittal Champions Trust.
The six-member trust is headed by Mittal and includes his son Aditya, son-in-law Ashish Bhatia, tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi, cricketer Rahul Dravid and administrator ManishaMalhotra.
It funds specialised training and provides an overallsupport system to athletes.
Apart from the large Indian community in Britain, one Briton who will be quietly happy if India does muchbetter at the London 2012 Olympics is none other than Sebastian Coe, the12-time world record holder in Athletics.
He is the chairman of the London organising Committeeof the Olympic Games (L.O.C.O.G).
Coe’s mother was of Indian origin, but he visited India for the first time to canvass India’s support just before London won the bid in Singapore in 2004 to host the2012 Olympics.
In fact, according to Mihir Bose, B.B.C.’s sports editor, Coe’s connections with India stood Britain in good stead when he went around Commonwealth countries to canvas support for London’s bid. The other two contenders were Parisand Madrid.
Bose wrote: "During the bid Coe rediscovered hisroots, which played a crucial part in London winning.
"Coe's mother was of Indian origin but Coe had never visited India. He was invited by India to run for them in the 1988 Seoul Olympics when Britain refused to choose him. ButCoe declined.
"But during the London bid Coe visited his mother'scountry for the first time.
"Soon he had built up a successful coalition of the entire Commonwealth - and not just the old white one that had often in the past been the domain of previous British sportsadministrators.
"This coalition was crucial to London's success inSingapore".
Coe has a smaller budget for the 2012 event (9.3billion pounds) than what Beijing spent (22.6 billion pounds).
Coe believes that the Beijing Olympics "marks a zenith in terms of grandeur and scale". This means that London 2012 will be different but Coe insists it will not be in any wayinferior.
Bose wrote: "The word here is that London will do itits own way, with a touch of British funkiness.
"That British ability to surprise people by being different will make up for the fact that stadia will not be iconic. There will be nothing like the Bird's Nest in Stratford, where the venues will be smaller and the whole thing much more functional than here in Beijing." Coe won gold in the 1500m and silver in the 800m at both the Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 Olympics. He retired from competitive athletics in 1990 and became a ConservativeMP.
In 2002 he was made a peer – Lord Coe of Ranmore. He received a knighthood in the 2006 New Year's Honours List. PTI CORR
The London-based steel baron, Lakshmi Mittal, has already committed funds to support the Indian contingent forthe London event through his Mittal Champions Trust.
The six-member trust is headed by Mittal and includes his son Aditya, son-in-law Ashish Bhatia, tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi, cricketer Rahul Dravid and administrator ManishaMalhotra.
It funds specialised training and provides an overallsupport system to athletes.
Apart from the large Indian community in Britain, one Briton who will be quietly happy if India does muchbetter at the London 2012 Olympics is none other than Sebastian Coe, the12-time world record holder in Athletics.
He is the chairman of the London organising Committeeof the Olympic Games (L.O.C.O.G).
Coe’s mother was of Indian origin, but he visited India for the first time to canvass India’s support just before London won the bid in Singapore in 2004 to host the2012 Olympics.
In fact, according to Mihir Bose, B.B.C.’s sports editor, Coe’s connections with India stood Britain in good stead when he went around Commonwealth countries to canvas support for London’s bid. The other two contenders were Parisand Madrid.
Bose wrote: "During the bid Coe rediscovered hisroots, which played a crucial part in London winning.
"Coe's mother was of Indian origin but Coe had never visited India. He was invited by India to run for them in the 1988 Seoul Olympics when Britain refused to choose him. ButCoe declined.
"But during the London bid Coe visited his mother'scountry for the first time.
"Soon he had built up a successful coalition of the entire Commonwealth - and not just the old white one that had often in the past been the domain of previous British sportsadministrators.
"This coalition was crucial to London's success inSingapore".
Coe has a smaller budget for the 2012 event (9.3billion pounds) than what Beijing spent (22.6 billion pounds).
Coe believes that the Beijing Olympics "marks a zenith in terms of grandeur and scale". This means that London 2012 will be different but Coe insists it will not be in any wayinferior.
Bose wrote: "The word here is that London will do itits own way, with a touch of British funkiness.
"That British ability to surprise people by being different will make up for the fact that stadia will not be iconic. There will be nothing like the Bird's Nest in Stratford, where the venues will be smaller and the whole thing much more functional than here in Beijing." Coe won gold in the 1500m and silver in the 800m at both the Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 Olympics. He retired from competitive athletics in 1990 and became a ConservativeMP.
In 2002 he was made a peer – Lord Coe of Ranmore. He received a knighthood in the 2006 New Year's Honours List. PTI CORR
