Dream Olympic 2036: CM Vijay launches scheme with eye on Olympic glory

CHENNAI: Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Thursday launched the ‘Dream Olympics 2036’ scheme, a flagship initiative aimed at strengthening sports development in Tamil Nadu and paving the way for the State to produce Olympic medal winners over the next decade.

The scheme was launched at a government event in Chennai in the presence of Asian Games medal winners.

The umbrella scheme will include 10 Olympic Centres of Excellence, Tamil Nadu Olympic City, Tamil Nadu Sports City and SDAT Olympic Illam. Under the scheme, the government will provide cash incentives of Rs 5 crore for an Olympic gold medal, Rs 3 crore for silver and Rs 2 crore for bronze.

Medallists from the Asian Games, Para Asian Games and Commonwealth Games will be inducted into the Dream Olympics programme. The government will provide them a monthly stipend of Rs 1 lakh, along with an annual assistance of Rs 50 lakh, according to the announcement.

During the event, the Chief Minister also presented cash incentives to Asian Games medallists and Chess Olympiad winners. including athlete Vithya Ramraj and squash player Joshna Chinnappa. The medallists were felicitated by the Chief Minister. The gold medallists were given a purse of Rs 75 lakh each, silver winners earned Rs 50 lakh each and Rs 30 lakh was presented to bronze medal winners.

Tamil Nadu sent 37 athletes across 11 sports to the Asian Games, earning 18 total medals (2 gold, 3 silver, and 13 bronze).

Minister for Public Works and Sports Development Aadhav Arjuna and Chief Secretary M Sai Kumar participated in the event.