All that glitters is gold: Athletics biggest gainer in government funding for Paris Olympics preparations

Government funding for Indian athletes for the Paris Olympics, with athletics receiving the highest amount of ₹96.08 crore.

One Olympic medal is all it takes to raise the profile of a sport and if the colour happens to be gold, it is just icing on the cake.

Ask the practitioners of track-and-field disciplines in India, who were the biggest beneficiaries of government funding in this Olympic cycle after javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra's top finish in the Tokyo edition three years ago.

According to official data from the Sports Authority of India's (SAI) Mission Olympic Cell (MOC), which is available with PTI, the government has spent a whopping ₹96.08 crore for athletics.

It's the biggest chunk in the close to ₹470 crore which has been spent on India's preparation for the Games this time across 16 disciplines. In the previous Olympic cycle, athletics received ₹5.38 crore from Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) funds.

A strong 28-member contingent, led by Chopra, will represent Indian athletics at the Paris Games starting July 26 where the country's overall representation will stand at 118.

The full details of the funding for Tokyo preparations are sketchy but sources say the expenditure this time is substantially higher keeping in mind higher expectations after the seven medals achieved last time.

The country's shuttlers were the second biggest gainers, receiving ₹72.02 crore followed by boxing (₹60.93 crore) and shooting (₹60.42 crore).