Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 3 (IANS) Sports minister Ajay Maken Thursday launched the ambitious “Operation Excellence London 2012″ to prepare Indian athletes for the London Olympics.

Maken said after the success of Indian athletes at the Commonwealth and Asian Games last year, the country expects more medals from the athletes at the London Olympics.

“We are expecting to better results in London Olympics than earlier Games. So, the Sports Ministry and Sports Authority of India has launched ‘Opex London 2012′ to prepare our athletes for the Olympic Games,” Maken told reporters here.

Maken said that the comprehensive programme will include training and coaching and will provide all the required facilities to the athletes.

“The athletes will be given foreign exposure, participation in international competitions and hiring of foreign coaches to get the best results in 2012 Olympics,” he said.

Maken informed that the programme is designed for elite medal prospects and for the national teams of all Olympics disciplines.

“Medal prospects (athletes) and top 10 in selected individual disciplines will be managed and funded through the National Sports Development Fund. The preparation of the national teams for all the Olympic disciplines with a focus on training camps, national and foreign coaches, equipment support and training and competition exposure abroad will be implemented by SAI,” Maken said.

Maken said for the programme the ministry will set-up two committees — an Apex Committee and Steering Committee.

“The Apex Committee will approve the action plan while the Steering Committee, chaired by sports secretary, will approve and sanction the training camps for specific disciplines, diet/nutrition, foreign coaches and national coaches and competition exposure abroad,” he said.