Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) is a program of the Foundation for Promotion of

Sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

and

Games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

, a

Not for Profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

(Section 25) Company, which is committed to bridging the gap between the best

athletes An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-develo ...

in India and the best athletes in the world thus helping Indian athletes to win

Olympic Gold medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

s. OGQ aims to create a level playing field for Indian athletes to enable them to be competitive at the highest level of sport. Founded by Indian sporting legends

Geet Sethi Geet Siriram Sethi (born 17 April 1961) of India is a professional player of English billiards who dominated the sport throughout much of the 1990s. He is also a notable amateur (ex-pro) snooker player. He is a five-time winner of the professio ...

and

Prakash Padukone Prakash Padukone (born 10 June 1955) is a former Indian badminton player. He was ranked World No. 1 in 1980; the same year he became the first Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championships. He was awarded the Arjuna award in 1972 ...

, OGQ's first test was the

London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. 4 out of the 6 Indian medalists were supported by OGQ. In 2010,

Leander Paes Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players ever. He holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup. Paes won eight men' ...

and

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating of ...

also joined the board of directors.

Viren Rasquinha Viren Wilfred Rasquinha (born 13 September 1980) is an Indian former field hockey player and captain of the Indian national team. He was a member of the team that competed at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He quit international hockey in 2008 to ...

, former India hockey captain, is the current CEO of Olympic Gold Quest.

Objective

To assist potential

Olympic medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold, silver, and bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respectively. The granting of awards is laid o ...

talent from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to help achieve their dreams and win Olympic gold medals and scout for potential medal talent, to help identify areas of support, to work with all stakeholders to aid deserving talent. Olympic Gold Quest strives to complement the efforts of the

Indian Government The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the Government, national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy lo ...

and various

Federations in identifying and funding the best and most deserving medal prospects for the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. Olympic Gold Quest has brought together eminent

sportsperson An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

, business leaders,

sportswriters Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

and talent scouts to identify emerging athletes, understand their training needs and requirements and raise funds to be used for supporting athletes with

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

medal winning potential.

Supported athletes

Olympic Gold Quest supports 51 athletes in the six disciplines of

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, and

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

. Besides it also supports 25 junior athletes from different sports disciplines under its Junior Scholarship Program. Following are the athletes:

Archery

Deepika Kumari Deepika Kumari (born 13 June 1994) is an Indian professional archer. Currently ranked the World No. 2, she competes in the event of archery. She won a gold medal in the 2010 Commonwealth games in the women's individual recurve event. She also w ...

Jayanta Talukdar Jayanta Talukdar (born 2 March 1986 in Guwahati) is an Indian archer from Assam. He has won individual gold Medal in the 2006 Archery World Cup. Career Talukdar was part of the Indian team that won the silver medal at the 2004 Junior World Ch ...

Tarundeep Rai Tarundeep Rai (born 22 February 1984, in Namchi, Sikkim, India) is an Indian archer. He is conferred with the Padma Shri, in 2021, by the Government of India, for his contribution in Sports. Earlier, in 2018, he was awarded the Khel Ratan Aw ...

* Rahul Banerjee *

Bombayla Devi Laishram Bombayla Devi Laishram (born 22 February 1985) is an Indian archer. A member of the national recurve team representing India at the international events since 2007, she has won a silver medal at the World Archery Championships, and four gold, ...

Rimil Buriuly Rimil Buriuly (born 9 January 1991) is an Indian sportswoman who competes in archery. Rimil was part of bronze winning team in Women's Recurve event at the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China between 12 and 27 November 2010. Rimil i ...

Laxmirani Majhi Laxmirani Majhi (born 26 January 1989) is an Indian female right handed recurve archer. Early life Laxmi is from the Santhal tribe; she grew up in Bagula village in East Singhbhum district, Jharkhand. Her first chance to become an archer wa ...

Mangal Singh Champia Mangal Singh Champia (born 9 November 1983, in Jamshedpur) is an Indian archer, who won multiple medals in several International event, including Asian Games. He was conferred with the Arjuna award by President of India for the ...

* Sanjay Boro *

Atanu Das Atanu Das (born 5 April 1992) represents India in the recurve men's individual and team events. His current world ranking is 9 as of 22 July 2021. He is the spouse of World No. 1 Indian archer Deepika Kumari. Career Das started archery at the ...

Pravin Jadhav Pravin Ramesh Jadhav (born 6 July 1996) is an Indian archer who competes in the recurve discipline, supported by OGQ. At the 2019 World Archery Championships, he was a member of the first Indian team to qualify for the final since 2005; the team ...

* Atul Verma *Promila Daimary *Madhu Vedwan *

Ankita Bhakat Ankita Bhakat (born 17 June 1998) is an Indian recurve archer who is currently ranked world number 20 by the World Archery Federation. She is a member of the Indian national recurve team and competes in international events in the women's indiv ...

*Sukhmani Babrekar

Athletics

Vikas Gowda Vikas Shive Gowda (born 5 July 1983) is an Indian discus thrower and shot putter. Born in Mysore, he grew up in Frederick, Maryland in the United States. His father, Shive Gowda, coached the 1988 Indian Olympic track team. Vikas Gowda is a Padm ...

* K. T. Irfan * Sandeep Kumar *

Annu Rani Annu Rani Dharayan (born 28 August 1992) is an Indian javelin thrower from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. She was the first Indian to reach the finals of the women's javelin throw event in the World Athletics Championships, Doha, 2019. Annu had qualifi ...

Badminton

Saina Nehwal Saina Nehwal (; born 17 March 1990) is an Indian professional badminton player. A former world no. 1, she has won 24 international titles, which includes ten Superseries titles. Although she reached the world's 2nd in 2009, it was only in 2015 ...

(bronze in 2012) * P V Sindhu (silver in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and bronze in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

) *

Parupalli Kashyap Parupalli Kashyap (born 8 September 1986) is an Indian badminton player. A former World No.6, he trains at Gopichand Badminton Academy. He was awarded the Arjuna Award by the Government of India in 2012. He created history by reaching the qu ...

Jwala Gutta Jwala Gutta; family names traditionally precede personal names in Indian name#Telugu, Telugu naming customs (born 7 September 1983) is an Indian badminton player. Beginning in the late 1990s, she represented India at international events in bo ...

and

Ashwini Ponnappa Ashwini Ponnappa Machimanda (born 18 September 1989) is an Indian badminton player who represents the country at the international badminton circuit in both the women's and mixed doubles disciplines. She had a successful partnership with Jwala ...

Boxing

Mary Kom Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom (born 01 March 1983) is an Indian amateur boxer, politician, and former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. She is the only woman to win the World Amateur Boxing Championship six times, the only female boxer to ha ...

(bronze in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

) *

Shiva Thapa Shiva Thapa (born 8 December 1993) is an Indian boxer. He is employed with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. He is supported by Olympic Gold Quest and Anglian Medal Hunt Company, Shiva Thapa participated in the 2012 London Olympics,

* Nengneihat Kom *

Sarita Devi Laishram Sarita Devi (born 1 March 1982) is an Indian boxer from Manipur. She is a national champion and a former world champion in the lightweight class. In 2009, she was awarded Arjuna award by the government of India for her achievements. ...

Devendro Singh Devendro Singh Laishram (born 2 March 1992), also known as Devendro Singh or Devendro Laishram, is an Indian boxer from Imphal West district, Manipur who competes in the light-flyweight division. Devendro represented India at the 2012 Summer O ...

* Sarjubala Devi *

Sumit Sangwan Sumit Sangwan (born 1 January 1993) is an Indian amateur boxer. At the 2012 London Olympics, he participated in the light heavyweight category. Under controversial circumstances, he lost his bout to Yamaguchi Falcão Florentino. He is suppor ...

Shooting

Gagan Narang Gagan Narang (born 6 May 1983) is an Indian sport shooter, supported by the Olympic Gold Quest. He won the bronze medal in the Men's 10 m Air Rifle Event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with a final score of 701.1 on 30 July 2012. Early ...

(bronze in 2012) * Vijay Kumar (silver in 2012) *

Heena Sidhu Heena Sidhu (born 29 August 1989) is an Indian sport shooter. On 7 April 2014, Sidhu became the first Indian pistol shooter to reach number one in world rankings by the International Shooting Sport Federation. In 2013, Sidhu became the first In ...

Annu Raj Singh Annu Raj Singh (born 17 February 1984) is an Indian shooter from Aligarh. She along with Heena Sidhu won the gold medal in women's Pairs 10 metre air pistol at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she competed in both the 1 ...

Sanjeev Rajput Master Chief Petty Officer Sanjeev Rajput (5 January 1981) is an Arjuna Awardee Indian sport shooter from Yamuna Nagar, Haryana. He was a retired Junior Commissioned Officer in Indian Navy. Early life Rajput was born on 5 January 1981 to Krisha ...

* Omkar Singh * Jitu Rai * Pooja Ghatkar * Ayonika Paul * Shweta Singh *

Smit Singh Smit Singh (born 18 January 1991) is an International Sportsperson, State Public Policy Advisor, Strategic Communications Expert and was Indian National Congress’s MLA candidate for Punjab Vidhan Sabha General Elections 2022. Singh studied at ...

* Prakash Nanjappa * Kynan Chenai * Joydeep Karmakar *

Rahi Sarnobat Rahi Jeevan Sarnobat (Marathi: राही सरनोबत) is a female athlete from India who competes in the 25 metre pistol shooting event. She won her first gold medal at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India. She is the fi ...

Apurvi Chandela Apurvi Singh Chandela (born 4 January 1993) is an Indian Shooting player who competes in the 10 metre air rifle event. She won the gold medal in the 2019 ISSF World Cup in New Delhi. She is a recipient of Arjuna award. Early life and backgrou ...

* Chain Singh * Elizabeth Koshy * Lajja Gauswami * Shri Nivetha Parmantham * Gurpreet Singh * Shreya Gawande *

Angad Vir Singh Bajwa Angad Vir Singh Bajwa (born 29 November 1995) is an Indian sport shooter who competes in the skeet discipline. He holds the skeet final round world record of 60 out of 60. Career At the 2015 Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait City, the tri ...

* Anish Bhanwala * Ravi Kumar * Deepak Kumar * Shahzar Rizvi

Wrestling

* Jaideep * Parveen Rana * Sonam Malik *

Sushil Kumar Sushil Kumar Solanki (born 26 May 1983) is a former Indian wrestler. He carried the Indian flag at the opening ceremony of 2012 London Olympics. His 2008 Olympic medal was second for India in wrestling, and the first since Khashaba Dadasaheb Ja ...

(Silver in 2012, Bronze in 2008) (Disc. 2016) *

Yogeshwar Dutt Yogeshwar Dutt (born 2 November 1982) is an Indian freestyle wrestler. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won the bronze medal in the 60 kg category. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2013. He won gold medals at th ...

(Bronze in 2012) (Disc. 2016)

Junior Scholarship Athletes

* Malaika Goel - Shooting * Pratik Borse - Shooting * Manavaditya Rathore - Shooting * Gayatri Pawaskar - Shooting *

Lakshya Sen Lakshya Sen (born 16 August 2001) is an Indian badminton player. Sen is a former world junior no. 1. He has won gold medals at the 2018 Asian Junior Championships in the boys' singles and at the Summer Youth Olympics in the mixed team event. H ...

- Badminton *

Siril Verma Siril Verma (born 25 December 1999) is an Indian badminton player. He was the silver medalist at the 2015 World Junior Championships. He reached a career high of world no. 1 of the world junior ranking in January 2016. Verma was the gold medal ...

- Badminton * Meiraba Luwang - Badminton *

Rahul Yadav Rahul Yadav (born 1989) is an Indian entrepreneur best known for being the co-founder and former CEO of Indian real estate search portal Housing.com. Citing his young age, he distributed all of his personal equity in Housing.com, worth around ...

- Badminton * Kiran George - Badminton * Chirag Sen - Badminton * Rahul Bharadwaj - Badminton * Bodhit Joshi - Badminton * Kartikey Gulshan - Badminton *

Aakarshi Kashyap Aakarshi Kashyap (born 24 August 2001) is an Indian badminton player. She was selected to be part of the Indian team at the 2018 Asian Games. She was part of the national women's team that won the gold medal in 2019 South Asian Games. Early l ...

- Badminton * Rohit Singh - Boxing * Parechitpi - Boxing * Thotyola Tangkhul - Boxing * Nengboichong - Boxing * Lansigmi - Boxing * Ngathingpam - Boxing * Shantikumar - Boxing * Ravi Kumar - Wrestling * Anil Kumar - Wrestling * Naveen - Wrestling * Manisha - Wrestling * Pooja Gehlot - Wrestling * Arun Singh - Wrestling * Archana Kamath - Table Tennis * Diya Chitale - Table Tennis *

Maana Patel Maana Patel (born 18 March 2000) is an Indian backstroke swimmer from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Swimming career Maana Patel started swimming when she was seven. Manna Patel, the first Indian female swimmer who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, wil ...

- Swimming * Shaili Singh - Long Jump *Kunwar Ajay - Javelin Throw *

Komalika Bari Komalika Bari (born 5 February 2002 in Jamshedpur) is only the third Indian player to win the world title at the Tata Archery Academy's Cadet World Youth Archery Championships. She made her mark to ensure her place in the Indian team for elite ...

- Archery

Paralympians

Devendra Jhajharia Devendra Jhajharia (born 10 June 1981) is an Indian Paralympic javelin thrower competing in F46 events. He is the first Indian Paralympics player to win two gold medals at the Paralympics. He won his first gold in the javelin throw at the 200 ...

- Javelin Throw *

Mariyappan Thangavelu Mariyappan Thangavelu (born 28 June 1995) is an Indian Paralympic high jumper. He represented India in the 2016 Summer Paralympics games held in Rio de Janeiro in the men's high jump T-42 category and the 2020 Summer Paralympic games held ...

- High Jump

Medals

References

{{reflist

External links

Olympic Gold Quest website
Sports organisations of India Non-profit organisations based in India India at the Olympics