PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, June 23: India’s participation in the Olympics was made possible by Sir Dorabji Tata, an athlete, expert rower and a fine horseman himself.
Dorabji Tata, who was the elder son of Jamsedji Nusserwanji Tata, founder of Tata Steel was also the founder president of the Indian Olympic Association.
Tata Steel today celebrated Olympic Day to commemorate the founding of the International Olympic Committee on June 23, 1894. The day marks the global celebration of sport.
Dorabji Tata, a key figure in the history and development of the Tata Group financed the national contingent to the Antwerp Olympics in 1920 and bore part of the expenses incurred on India’s participation in the Paris Olympics held in 1924.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was formed in 1927 with Sir Dorabji as its first President. The IOA selected the Indian team for the 1928 Olympics held in Amsterdam, where India won the gold medal in hockey.
Several past employees of Tata Group companies have represented India in the Olympics. They include Lavinho (Lavy) Pinto who represented in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He captained the Indian athletics meet where he made it to the semi-finals of the 100m and 200m.
Another employee Mercy Kuttam represented India in the 1988 Seoul Olympics in the 400m and 4x400m relay. Another star athlete Charles Borromeo competed in the 800m at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Another big name was TC Yohannan, who represented in the 1976 Montreal Games in Long Jump. He was an employee of Tata Motors. Bahadur Singh, another athlete of repute, represented India at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow in Discus Throw event.
Dorabji Tata, Chairman, Tata Group (1904-1932) became the first President of the Indian Olympic Association in 1927. The IOA selected India’s team for the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and India won the Gold medal for the first time in hockey. Sir Dorabji Tata was the elder son of Jamsedji Nusserwanji Tata, who transformed his father’s dream into reality by setting up India’s first integrated steel plant (Tata Iron and Steel Company in 1907, now Tata Steel Limited), a power plant (Tata Hydroelectric Power Supply Company in 1910, now Tata Power) and a research institute (Indian Institute of Science in 1911).
Sir Dorabji Tata steered India to enter the world of international sports by selecting and sponsoring four athletes and two wrestlers for the Olympic Games of Antwerp in 1920 (even before India had an Olympic body). He also secured a place for India in the 1924 Olympics in Paris and was chosen as a member of the International Olympic Committee.
“Sports is a way of life” at Tata Steel and the company has been promoting and encouraging sports for nearly a century.
Tata Steel spearheads the corporate promotion of sports and has been hosting various tournaments of both National and International standards.
Ever since, the senior leadership of Tata Steel has worked towards the fruition of the Founder’s vision of sports being an integral part of Tata Steel’s corporate philosophy.
The company has endeavoured to promote and develop an array of sports and has set up state-of-the-art sports infrastructure not only in and around its areas of operations but beyond. Today, very few cities in the country can boast of the kind of sports infrastructure that exists in Jamshedpur.
