The Tribune: Big names join hands to form Olympians Association of India
India’s sporting legends have come forward to form a representative body of Olympians in the country — Olympians Association of India (OAI) — which will look after the welfare of former and current Olympians through their careers and beyond.
OAI has been founded by Olympians Shiva Keshavan (luge), Viren Rasquinha (hockey), Malav Shroff (sailing), Adille Sumariwalla (athletics), Ashwini Nachappa (athletics), Saina Nehwal (badminton), Hakimuddin Habibulla (swimming) and MC Mary Kom (boxing).
Other prominent members in the body include Olympics silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who is Minister of State for Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Olympics gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, double Olympics medallist Sushil Kumar, bronze medal winners Yogeshwar Dutt, Gagan Narang and Vijendra Singh.
OAI is a non-profit organisation and is directly affiliated to the World Olympians Association (WOA) under the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
OAI will emphasise on the athlete’s academic programme and employment opportunities, skill development, health insurance and pension, apart from running a mentorship programme for the young athletes and IOC Athletes’ Career Programme.