YouTube invites India to cheer for Indian athletes at the London Olympics

For the the London 2012 Olympic Games, YouTube India has launched a unique initiative called “It’s Time You Cheer” inviting all Indians to cheer for the Indian Olympic squad and popularise the Indian athletes within the country.

 

As part of its drive to encourage youth to step up and support the Indian athletes, YouTube launched a special theme song composed by the noted music composer Shantanu Moitra and lyricist Swanand Kirkere titled “Aap Agar Saath Hain. Tou Jeet Bhi Saath Hai”.  And to popularise Olympic Games viewership and gather more support for the athletes from their hometowns, YouTube also flagged off the YouTube Bus for Olympics, which will travel across nine key cities including hometowns of the athletes from Punjab and Haryana. The bus will offer an opportunity to watch Olympic Games live on YouTube on the bus and learn more about the history of Indian athletes at the Olympics.

 

YouTube has partnered with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to bring live coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games to India and 63 other countries and territories across Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa on the IOC’s channel www.youtube.com/olympic. Millions of Indians will be able catch 10 high-definition live-streams of the London games on their desktop, tablet, or mobile device free of cost. Users will also be able to watch catch-up content and highlights, divided by event.

 

Speaking at the launch event, Tarlochan Singh - Vice President Indian Olympic Association said, “It is a great honour to represent your Country in the Olympics, and I am delighted to lend my support to YouTube and help create more awareness for our athletes and encourage the youth to cheer for our stars to do their best. Internet is a powerful and democratic medium which transcends boundaries. It appeals to the youth, and this initiative will go a long-way in creating awareness and appreciation for our athletes in the country. As Indians we’ve the ability to compete at any platform anywhere in the world — but we need the support and encouragement from all Indians just like some of the other popular sports gets in India.“

 

Commenting on the initiative, Lalitesh Katragadda Country Head, India Products, Google, said “As a company, we’re committed to invest in products and initiatives that help us to create awareness and demonstrate the benefits of Internet in everyday lives. And what could be better than combining this effort with an initiative to gather more support for all the top-tier Indian athletes who will compete at Olympics to bring glory to India. We have successfully run a initiative with the Internet Bus that travelled across the country and has touched the lives of 65,00,000 Indians across 130 towns, and with this initiative we expect to add more miles and smiles and gather support for our stars at the London 2012 Olympic Games.”

 

Speaking about the inspiration and thought behind the theme song Shantanu Moitra, Music Composer said, “It is a matter of great pride that I was asked to compose the theme song for this initiative. What hit me the most was that most athletes were from back and beyond places with meagre earnings. With such challenging background to reach thus far in sports is an olympian effort. I salute each and everyone and hope the song does exactly that.”

 

The anthem was launched along with a series of specially shot ‘Know your stars’ & ‘Know your sport’ videos featuring the Indian athletes like Sandeep Singh (Indian Hockey team), Mary Kom (Boxing), Heena Sidhu (Shooting) and many more. These videos have been created to familiarise Indians with the Indian contingent at the Olympic Games 2012.