Nita Ambani has been at the forefront of championing India’s potential in building itself as a sports powerhouse and played a pivotal role in bringing the International Olympic Committee (IOC) session back to India after 40 years.
At the 139th IOC Session held in Beijing in February 2022, the Indian delegation led by Mrs Ambani had made a compelling pitch for Mumbai to host the 2023 IOC session, following which the financial capital of India received overwhelming endorsement for its bid with 99% of the votes.
Elected to the IOC in 2016, she is the first Indian woman to become a member of the body and has since demonstrated a deep and unwavering commitment to strengthening India’s contribution to the Olympic Movement.
Bringing new perspective and skills to the IOC, she has been appointed to several commissions since her election as an IOC member — Olympic Channel (2017-present), Olympic Education (2017-present), and Culture and Olympic Heritage (2020-present). Her presence in these panels has enabled her to inject invaluable international experience into India’s efforts to bolster its sports landscape and engage with the Olympic Movement.
Chaired by her, the Reliance Foundation, too, remains committed to empowering athletes from the grassroots to the elite stage. As a result, 11 out of 19 Reliance Foundation athletes have won medals at this year’s Asian Games, comprising nearly 13% of India’s total medal tally. From 17-year-old Palak Gulia who bagged a Gold in the women’s 10m air pistol event and was part of the 10m air pistol women’s team that won a Silver medal to Lovlina Borgohain and Kishore Kumar Jena who secured their tickets to 2024 Paris Olympics, along with bagging Silver medals.
The Reliance Foundation is also working with partners to create a world-class sporting ecosystem from the ground up across football, athletics, and school and college sports – nurturing a passion for sports at the grassroots; creating platforms for scouting and developing sporting talent; improving the quality of training and infrastructure; providing national and international opportunities; and ultimately, enhancing athletes’ performance to help them excel at the highest levels of global sport, all the way to the Olympics. Since its inception, Reliance Foundation’s sporting initiatives have reached 22 million youngsters across the country.
Nita Ambani, who has championed the advancement of youth sports in India as the Chairperson of Reliance Foundation whose sporting initiatives have reached 2.15 crore youngsters across the country, had described the successful bid as a “significant development” for India’s Olympic aspirations.
“The Olympic Movement is back to India after a 40-year wait! I am truly grateful to the International Olympic Committee for entrusting India with the honour of hosting the IOC Session in Mumbai in 2023,” she had said once Mumbai’s winning bid was confirmed. “This will be a significant development for India’s Olympic aspiration and will herald the start of a new era for Indian sport.”
Speaking at the Executive Committee meeting on October 12 ahead of the Mumbai Session, IOC President Thomas Bach also lauded the efforts of Reliance Foundation and IOC member Nita Ambani towards the Olympic and sporting movement in India.
“Together with our IOC colleague and friend Nita Ambani, I visited Reliance Foundation and the programmes they’re offering there to the kids and youth with regard to their sport and education. And I must say, I am really deeply impressed by what is being done there by Reliance and her team, because you see there are kids from all over India at this centre. Most of them are from underprivileged families,” Bach said.
“The children are being offered school education but, at the same time, are being given the opportunity to train to become athletes. This is something that is exactly reflecting our Olympic values and our approach. To see that it is being done by a private entity, which is the Reliance Foundation, is very, very impressive and very encouraging,” he added.
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