Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay announces ‘Dream Olympics 2036’ scheme

With the aim of broadbasing sports support to every district and having a wider talent pool of elite level athletes, the Tamil Nadu’s new sports scheme was announced in the state capital. | Photo Credit: R. RAGU

Tamil Nadu unveiled its new sports programme aimed at producing Olympic and Paralympic champions during a feliciation event held in honour of Asian Games medallists from the state at the Leela Palace in Chennai on Thursday.

Named “Dream Olympics 2036”, the programme is set to include a talent hunt across Tamil Nadu targeting children aged eight to 18, with the goal of scouting talent from every district and bringing them into the state’s formal sports ecosystem.

Ten Olympic training centres have been proposed to support this pipeline with a flagship Olympic city announced, intends to provide a high-performance platform for athletes to train for elite level competition.

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The state also plans to build a dedicated Motorsport City designed to create world-class facilities for motorsport disciplines ranging from Formula 4 to Formula 1.

The government said existing sports infrastructure in several cities will be upgraded, new sports hostels will be established, and modern equipment and facilities will be provided.

Additional support will include air travel allowance for athletes competing in national events, along with enhanced funding under various state sports schemes.

Tamil Nadu has also announced a reward structure for Olympic and Paralympic medal-winners: Rs 5 crore for gold, Rs 3 crore for silver and Rs 2 crore for bronze. The incentive for athletes who qualify for the Olympics and Paralympics has been raised to Rs 15 lakh.

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Athletes who qualify for Asian Games, Para Asian Games and Commonwealth Games will get a special Rs. 7 lakh reward to aid their preparation.

The number of athletes covered under the Elite category has been increased to 60. Under the Mission International Medals Scheme (MIMS) category, the beneficiary count has been raised to 175, with the incentive increased to Rs 15 lakh, while the Champions Development Scheme (CDS) scheme will now cover 275 athletes with an incentive of Rs 2 lakh each.

All medalists from the Asian Games/Para Asian Games and Commonwealth Games/Para Commonwealth Games will be inducted into the Dream Olympics Scheme and provided Rs 50 lakh per annum, including a monthly stipend of Rs 1 lakh.