Sebastian Coe lauds India's bid to host 2036 Olympics

Sebastian Coe, the president of the World Athletics, is happy with India's bid for the 2036 Olympic Games.

“I was very pleased that India is obviously keen to one day stage an Olympic Games,” Coe, who headed the bidding and organising committee for the 2012 London Olympics, told Reuters on Tuesday.

India never hosted the Olympics, the only multi-sport events the country hosted were the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games.

Sebastian is among the candidates who are in contention to replace the incumbent Thomas Bach as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president. Bach's term ends in 2025. 

The two-time Olympic gold medal-winning runner met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sports minister Masukh Mandaviya on Monday when they discussed India's bid for the 2036 Games.

'Not surprised with India's ambitions'

“We know that the Olympic Games is a unique sporting event and it doesn’t surprise me that a country with the type of ambitions that India has and the vision for sports beyond the field of play and into the delivery of social and economic benefits, (it) would look at staging a Games," said Coe.

India will face tough competition from countries like Indonesia, Egypt, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. On Tuesday, South Africa has submitted its bidding document.

Coe also said that the organising committee must regularly inform the nation and the local communities about the benefits of hosting the Games.

“And be clear about what the legacy is. Don’t let others define your legacy, define it yourself,” he said during an interview in Mumbai, the country’s financial capital.

“Whether it’s on sports or social and urban planning, whether it’s about health and related fitness, it may be all of those things, but be very clear what your legacy is, because if you’re not, then others will define it for you, and that may not end well.”

Although India, the most populous nation in the world, has a poor record in the Olympics, Coe lauded the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for its initiative like ‘kids’ athletics’ to promote athletics in India.

“... It is a way of encouraging obviously more young people into athletics, but also critically more young people into healthy lifestyles, both mental and physical. Athletics, as we know, is the Queen, the mother, of all sports,” he said.