Kiren Rijiju: We will be in top-10 of Los Angles Olympics medal ranking

The 48-year-old spoke about bringing some positive changes to the Indian sporting system.

India's Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju hailed the government's ambitious 'Target Olympic Podium Junior Scheme' and said that the nation will be competing for a top-10 finish at the 2028 Los Angles Olympics.

The 'Target Olympic Podium Junior Scheme' is a scouting talent program in which kids as young as 10-13-years-old will be trained with an aim to prepare them for the Los Angeles Games.

"Objectives are very clear, we have created the ‘Target Olympic Podium Junior Scheme’ that means those who are 10-13 years of age will be ready to become world champions by 2028 Los Angeles Olympics," stated Kiren Rijiju during the India Today Mindrocks event.

He said, "By starting the scheme we are identifying the young talents, it’s a process of talent scouting at a young age and taking full responsibility of their training by bringing in world-class coaches."

Kiren Rijiju explained that he has taken some big steps recently to bring positive changes to the Indian sporting system. The sports minister has extended the tenure of coaches and removed their ₹2-lakh salary cap as well. He has also done some work to enhance the quality of Indian coaches.

He said that there is a need to create a sports culture in India to achieve the dream of becoming a sporting powerhouse. "We will leave no stone unturned. We look forward to realizing the dreams of every Indian to make India a great sporting powerhouse. I have recently decided to extend the tenure of coaches, Indian coaches are being enhanced and the ₹2-lakh salary cap for coaches has also been removed. By 2028, the target of getting India in the top-10 of Olympics medal rankings will be realized. I am very clear. We started planning and executing those plans," he concluded.