Bengaluru, March 14 : Two-time Olympic medallist PR Sreejesh has stressed the need for grassroots investment and talent identification if the country has to make a big impact in the 2026 Olympic Games.

Outlining what India must do to build a stronger Olympic future at the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit, Sreejesh said while India has depth at the national level, the grassroots system still needs attention.

'Exposure is the key. Getting into the world level and performing from there is the dream,' he said. 'What makes the Olympics unique is the mental pressure. Preparing athletes to be equipped to perform at that level is most important.'

'We have room to improve in talent identification. At the nursery level, at the grassroots, there's a lot to work on. That's where the investment needs to go in,' he said. 'If we are speaking about the 2036 Olympics, now is when we need to tap into the talent between the age groups of 12-14 years,' said the hockey goalkeeper who won bronze medals in the 2020 Tokyo Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Beyond medals, Sreejesh called for a broader sports culture in India. 'We need to introduce sports culture into our system. That's important, not just to win medals but for overall health and well-being. The younger generation is very focused on medals, which is great, but we also need to build a foundation that sustains their journey in sports,' he remarked.

He noted that young athletes today have real examples of Indian success on the global stage, which can help them believe in their potential.

'When we started playing, we always heard about the history of the sport. Now, we can realistically show young kids that we can achieve on the global stage. When I work with U21 players at Hockey India, I want them to believe that they too can achieve success,' he further added.

Earlier, on the first day of the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit, former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik, in conversation with Mo Bobat, Director of Cricket at RCB, and former England cricketer Isa Guha, lauded the Indian cricket team's mindset and credited the IPL for instilling a winning approach in players while strengthening infrastructure.

In another panel, Sarah Walsh, Head of Women's Football, Football Australia, and Moya Dodd, a sports and governance expert, discussed the growth prospects of Indian women's football and the broader pathway for women's sports in India leading up to 2036.

The summit also featured insights from a distinguished lineup of speakers, including Aditya Aditya, (Head of Media Business Strategy & Intelligence at the International Olympic Committee ), Michele Ciccarese (Commercial and Marketing Director, Serie A), Darren Henry (Chief Commercial Officer, British Cycling), Chloe Targett-Adams (Chief Commercialization Officer, Surj), Jalaj, and Vital Dani (Asian Paints and Dani Sports Foundation), Nandan Kamath (Sports and Society Accelerator ' the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit Powered by Leaders' Knowledge Partner), and Hina Nagarajan (Diageo India).

The second edition of the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit is currently underway at the Padukone Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence in Bengaluru and will end on March 15.

/IANS