Former Olympians say India's Olympic preparations should be a continuous process

India's readiness for the Olympic Games must be an ongoing endeavour, and officials shouldn't only become alert a few months prior to the start of the world's biggest sporting event, according to former Olympic athletes.

They expressed their views during a panel discussion titled 'In search of glory: India's prospects in the 2024 Olympics ,' which was held by the Indian Chamber of Commerce at a city hotel on Friday evening.

Hockey legend Gurbux Singh, who was part of the gold medal-winning hockey team in the 1964 Olympics and the bronze-winning team in the 1968 Olympics, emphasized the significance of instilling a sports culture among young people and having sports facilities and grounds at every educational institution.

"We wake up when the Olympics comes. The whole country wakes up. That attitude must change," he said, as quoted by PTI.

Singh reckoned the Indian men's hockey team will have to endure some tough games in a "difficult pool" at the Paris Olympics . "We are in a difficult group and our first target should be to secure a berth in the semifinals."

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who finished fourth in the vault event at the 2016 Rio Olympics to miss the bronze medal narrowly, reflected on her past experiences with a foreign coach who had dissuaded her from attempting the challenging vault event in gymnastics. She encouraged every young girl to transform their disadvantages and hardships into strengths. She urged them to combat any form of discrimination they may face and strive to bring honor to their nation.

Karmakar, who is an Arjuna awardee, added: "As I finished fourth, I had told sir Bisweswar Nandi how can I face the crores of countrymen who had reposed so much faith in me, who had put so much expectations on me. I wanted to go straight to my city Agartala on return but he said the entire country is waiting for you."

"And I really saw how ecstatic and amazing the response of people was upon my arrival. I still remember the motivational words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who amazed me with the way he narrated every minute detail of my performance," she said.

Soma Biswas, India's renowned heptathlon athlete, reckoned winning an Olympic medal is now a more realistic dream for Indian players. "Previously one had to nourish the ultimate dream to be an Olympian, which needs to be transformed in the belief to win Olympics medal."

Giving the example of India's chess legend Viswanathan Anand, Pravin Thipsay, who is a Commonwealth Chess Championship winner, said: "When Anand became a champion, he inspired young talents like Surya Sekhar Ganguly and that tradition continues."

On the question of chess's inclusion in Olympics, he added, "They (International Olympic Committee) must have their own standards. The future inclusion of chess in Olympics... administrators have to make the move," he said.