Target Olympic Podium Scheme

{{Short description|Indian initiative to promote sports}}

Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) is a scheme created by Government of India to promote sports in India.{{Cite news |last=PTI |date=2020-07-25 |title=India will be in top-10 in Los Angeles Olympics: Kiren Rijiju |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/india-will-be-in-top-10-in-los-angeles-olympics-kiren-rijiju/article32190557.ece |access-date=2023-10-04 |issn=0971-751X}} In September 2014, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India started a scheme to train and promote high-performance athletes with a target of getting medals at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. It constituted a committee called as TOPS Elite Athletes’ Identification Committee to identify the elite athletes who can be supported in their training to get the Olympic medals.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-17 |title=What is Target Olympic Podium Scheme? |url=https://www.indiatimes.com/explainers/news/what-is-target-olympic-podium-scheme-602619.html |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=IndiaTimes |language=en-IN}} TOPS was expanded to include junior athletes in 2020.{{Cite web |last=Ramchandani |first=Haresh |date=2021-04-14 |title=All you need to know about the Indian government's Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) |url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/sports/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-indian-government-s-target-olympic-podium-scheme-tops |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=www.sportskeeda.com |language=en-us}}

TOPS, along with other nationwide sports initiatives such as Khelo India, have been recognized as improving India's performance at major sporting events.{{Cite web |title=Schemes such as TOPS, Khelo India power Indian sports into a new era |url=https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=1084052 |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=www.daijiworld.com |language=en}}