Indian sport has made giant strides: Anurag Thakur

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur on Saturday said Indian sport has made "giant strides" in recent years.

India on Saturday won the right to host the 2023 International Olympic Committee's (IOC) session in Mumbai in an unopposed race, during the 139th IOC Session in Beijing, China.

"A historic moment as the International Olympic Committee Session is coming to India in 2023! Indian sport has made giant strides in recent years. Excited and proud to have been a part of the Indian delegation for this landmark occasion," Anurag Thakur tweeted.

The decision confirms India will be hosting this prestigious IOC meeting for the first time since 1983, in what is set to be the start of a new era of engagement between India's youthful population and the Olympic Movement.

An Indian delegation, comprising Nita Ambani, the first woman to be elected as an IOC member from India, and including Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur, and India's first individual Olympic gold medallist (Beijing 2008, shooting) Abhinav Bindra, presented a compelling case during the 139th IOC Session, held alongside the ongoing Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The session, to be held in the summer of 2023, will be hosted at Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai.

An IOC session is the annual meeting of the members of the IOC, comprising 101 voting members and 45 honorary members.

It discusses and decides on the key activities of the global Olympics movement including adoption or amendment of the Olympic Charter, the election of IOC members and office bearers and election of the host city of the Olympics.