Chennai, Oct 8 (PTI) Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Thursday unveiled the Dream Olympics 2036, a new initiative of the Tamil Nadu government designed to support young athletes in the state aiming for laurels in the 2036 Olympics.
The comprehensive sports development initiative launched by the CM during a felicitation of the 2026 Asian Games medalists here, is a long-term strategic roadmap to systematically discover, train, and support grassroots talent so that they can achieve success in the Olympics.
It focuses heavily on scouting and identifying athletes as young as 8 years old to provide them with continuous and long-term specialised coaching. Elite medal-winning athletes inducted from events like Asian Games and Commonwealth Games will receive a monthly stipend of Rs one lakh besides a substantial sum of Rs 50 lakh per annum, as financial support to alleviate economic pressures. This scheme applies to Para-Sports too.
Supported by the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT), this initiative ties directly into the state’s broader development plans, which include a world-class Olympic City in Chennai equipped with advanced sports science and medicine centers.
By establishing this 10-year roadmap, the government aims to provide comprehensive support, including high-quality training programmes, modern sports infrastructure and technical assistance.
At the event, Vijay received a historical treasure as a gift representing over 75 years of the Asian Games history, including memorabilia from the first games held in New Delhi in 1951 through the 20th Asian Games in 2026.
The commemorative memento includes mascots and a torch, and it was presented by Tayyab Ikram, the president of the International Hockey Federation and a member of the International Olympic Committee coordination commission, and handed over by Public Works and Sports Development Aadhav Arjuna.
The Chief Minister directly distributed a total state incentive of Rs 6.9 crore to athletes. The cash rewards were structured based on their performance at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, and the 46th Chess Olympiad.
Gold medalists were awarded Rs 75 lakh each notably by 18-year-old women’s cricket sensation G Kamalini, track athlete Vithya Ramraj, who shattered a 42-year-old national record in the women’s 400m hurdles with a timing of 54.75 seconds, earning a total incentive of Rs 1.55 crore, and cricketer Washington Sundar.
The silver medalists who received Rs 50 lakh each, also include Elavenil Valarivan (shooting), Rajesh Ramesh (athletics), Baranica Elangovan (athletics) while the bronze medalists who were presented Rs 30 lakh each also included Joshna Chinappa and Shameena Riyaz (squash), Velavan Senthilkumar and Abhay Singh (squash), Nethra Kumanan (sailing), Abinaya Rajarajan (athletics), Hariharan Amsakarunan (badminton) and T K Vishal (sailing).
Totally 37 athletes from Tamil Nadu who secured a collective haul of 3 gold, 3 silver, and 13 bronze medals across 11 different sports were honoured on the occasion.
Besides Aadhav Arjuna, Chief Secretary M Sai Kumar, Secretary Youth Welfare and Sports Development Department Sandeep Nanduri, and member secretary SDAT J Meghanatha Reddy were present. PTI JSP JSP ROH
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