Beijing Olympics gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra was appointed the chairman of the 10-member Target Olympic Podium committee on Friday to identify and support medal prospects for the 2020 and the 2024 summer games, reported PTI.
The panel also comprises of sprint legend PT Usha and former badminton star Prakash Padukone. Shooter Anjali Bhagwat and Sydney 2000 bronze-medallist weightlifter Karnam Malleshwari are the other sportspersons who will be a part of the committee.
The five other members are All India Tennis Association life president Anil Khanna, boxing administrator PK Muralidharan Raja, Railways Sports Promotion Board secretary Rekha Yadav, Sports Authority of India director SS Roy, and its joint secretary Inder Dhamija, “Committee will decide on its own procedures and will be competent to invite subject experts as and when required. The initial tenure of the committee will be one year from the date of notification,” a ministry press release stated.
The identified athletes will be provided financial and training assistance in the most state-of-the-art centres for India to improve their medal tally in the next two summer games. Previously, Bindra also led the review committee for Indian shooters’ flop show at Rio 2016. The 33-year-old was also included in the panel to formulate a National Sports Development Code.
