The 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session will be held in Mumbai, India, from 15 to 17 October. It will be only the second time India will be hosting the prestigious Olympic meeting with New Delhi hosting it first in 1983.
Read: How India can benefit from the 141st IOC Annual Session in Mumbai
The IOC Session is the main decision-making organ for the Olympic movement.
Mumbai won the right to host the IOC Session after a proposal for the same was passed by 99 percent of the votes from the delegates participating in the process at the 139th IOC Session which was held in Beijing in 2022.
IOC Session: Everything you need to know about the meeting in Mumbai
India’s proposal was led by a delegation of Nita Ambani, the first woman to be elected as an IOC Member from the country, the then Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Dr Narinder Batra, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, and India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra.
With India winning a record 107 medals including 28 gold at Asian Games 2023, the IOC Session could not have been held at a better time in the country.
2008 gold medallist Bindra feels that the IOC Session and the Olympic movement can help shape the young Indian society.
“There’s so much potential in India with our demographic and with our youth. The Olympic Movement can really inspire India’s youth in not just creating champions but I think Olympism can also play a positive role in shaping up our young society,” Bindra told Olympics.com.
Neeraj Chopra, who won gold in the javelin throw at the 2020 Olympics and is also the reigning world champion, said it is a perfect opportunity for India to present itself as the future host of the Games.
“The IOC coming to India presents us with a good opportunity to showcase our readiness to host the Olympics in the near future. It is my dream to see India host the Olympics once because it has never happened before,” he was quoted as saying by Olympics.com.