India can organise Olympics 2036, says French President Macron

As India looks forward to bidding for the Olympics 2036, French President Emmanuel Macron said that India has the "capacity" to organise such events. Speaking to Jio Cinema, Macron said he believes in India's future. He added that the Olympics is fierce competition.

"First of all, I am a strong believer in your country and the future of your country. And what you can build and your capacity to organise such events. I think this is a fierce competition. You should not underestimate that fact. I remember that seven years ago when we went to Lausanne, we did compete with the US at that time - Los Angeles. And we found this agreement at the end, it was, it is still a great cooperation. So, competing, by itself, is clearly a great preparation," Macron said.

Earlier, PM Modi also expressed that India will make efforts to host these big sporting events. Speaking to the para-athletes contingent in Delhi following a successful Para Asian Games in Hangzhou, PM Modi said the approach of the government is "athlete-centric". He said India is growing in terms of its sporting culture and also as a "sporting society".

The Prime Minister said there is another reason that India has gained the self-confidence to move forward. "We are trying to host the 2030 Youth Olympics and 2036 Olympics." move forward. India is slowly taking giant steps in multi-sporting events over the years.

Last year in the Asian Games and Para Asian Games in Hangzhou, India crossed the 100-medal mark for the first time ever, ending with 107 and 111 medals respectively. India had also captured 61 medals in the Commonwealth Games back in 2022 in Birmingham, though their best medal count was 101 at home in 2010.

India finished in the 71st place on the Paris Olympics medals tally, while, the United States of America ended in top place with a total of 126 medals.