Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India dreams of hosting the Olympics in 2036 and added that preparations are already underway, during his Independence Day speech on Thursday. PM Modi congratulated all the athletes who represented India at the Paris Olympics 2024 and also extended his best wishes to those travelling for the upcoming Paralympics. During the speech, PM Modi said that India has already proven that it has the infrastructure to host a big event like the G20 Summit and the next dream for the nation is to host the Olympics in 2036.

“Today, we also have with us the youth who made the Indian flag fly high in Olympics. On behalf of 140 crore countrymen, I congratulate all our athletes and players…In the next few days, a huge contingent of India will leave for Paris to participate in the Paralympics. I extend best wishes to all our Paralympians…India organising the G20 Summit on a large scale has proven that India has the capability to organise large-scale events…It is the dream of India to host 2036 Olympics, we are making preparations for that…,” PM Modi said while addressing the nation from Red Fort.

Meanwhile, Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s hopes of securing a belated Olympic silver medal were dashed on Wednesday when the ad-hoc division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected her appeal against a gut-wrenching disqualification from the final for being 100gm overweight, a decision that evoked a sharp reaction from the IOA.

The 29-year-old Vinesh was disqualified on the morning of the women’s 50kg freestyle final last week.

Despite announcing an extension of deadline till August 16 to announce the verdict, the decision against the star grappler came out this evening and it was a terse one-line statement.

“The Ad-Hoc division of the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) renders the following decision: The application filed by Vinesh Phogat on 7th August, 2024 is dismissed,” the CAS order read.

In her appeal, Vinesh had demanded that she be given a joint silver with Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who lost to her in the semifinals but was promoted to the summit clash following the Indian’s disqualification. The gold was claimed by American Sarah Ann Hildebrandt.

(With PTI inputs)