Fri Nov 15 23:07:28 IST 2024: ## Boxer Zareen Calls for Grassroots Investment Following India’s 2036 Olympics Bid
**Mumbai, November 11, 2024** – While celebrating India’s bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games, two-time world boxing champion Nikhat Zareen has urged for significant investment in grassroots sports development. Despite strong government backing for the bid, Zareen emphasized the critical need to expand the Sports Authority of India (SAI) network, ensuring accessible training centers are available nationwide for aspiring junior athletes.
“Winning the Olympic bid is a moment of pride,” Zareen stated, “but we must build a solid foundation first. That means prioritizing infrastructure development from the grassroots level, channeling funds towards talent identification, nurturing, providing access to equipment and training facilities, medical support, and financial assistance for athletes’ families.”
The editorial argues that India’s focus shouldn’t solely be on the 2036 Olympics. Instead, a robust sporting ecosystem needs to be established to ensure sustained success. This includes fulfilling existing promises to current champions to encourage continued participation and developing a concrete plan to overcome the string of recent fourth-place finishes in international competitions, starting with a targeted strategy for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The call is for a systematic, government-funded approach to produce champions consistently, rather than simply focusing on hosting major events.
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