Prof Yunus receives Laurel, Bangladesh adds name in Olympic history

–Nava Thakuria |

Guwahati: With Nobel peace laurate Professor Muhammad Yunus receives the Olympic Laurel award at the opening ceremony of 32nd Games of the Olympiad Tokyo 2020, organized under the shadow of Covid-19 pandemic with no audience on the ground, his motherland in south Asiaincorporated its name in the history of Olympics.
The athletes from Bangladesh may not win a medal in the Olympics tilldate, but millions of Bangladeshis found a reason this time to celebrate when Prof Yunus appeared in the digital screen with the adorable trophy to become the second awardee, definitely first Asian, after Kenyan Olympian Kip Keino.
Billions of sports enthusiasts across the globe witnessed the momentwhen the creator of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh was honoured with theaward virtually, as Prof Yunus did not visit Japan due to the pandemic, on the evening of on 23 July 2021 at the restricted opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympic Games.
“I am honoured and overwhelmed to receive this Olympic award, which isso special to me and my country,” said the economist turned revolutionary banker turned social entrepreneur who mentors Yunus Centre, a global hub of social business, highlighting its mission to create sustainable social enterprises not just for profit, but tosolve people’s problems.
Speaking to this correspondent from Dhaka, the soft-spoken Bengali gentleman appreciated the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and wished a success to its mission to transform the world to a peaceful place for the entire human race through the sports.
Prof Yunus reiterated the pledge to create a world of three zeros comprising nil carbon emission, nil wealth concentration to end thepoverty and once for all, nil unemployment by unleashing the power of entrepreneurship in everyone.
Initiated by the IOC to honour outstanding individuals for theirachievements in education, culture, development and peace throughsports, the Olympic Laurel is intended to honour awardees at the opening ceremony of each summer Olympics, where social changemaker Keino was honoured in 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
Bangladesh, a Muslim majority nation of over 170 million population,has never succeeded in the Olympic battles for medals. The countryused to send their representatives to the summer editions of OlympicGames mostly with wildcard entries. In Tokyo, six athletes under theguidance of Bangladesh Olympic Association are participating invarious disciplines.
The innovative Bangladeshi banker, who made small loans available tothe poorest of the poor without any collateral, was selected for thehonour for his extensive works in sport for development, includingfounding the Yunus Sports Hub, a global social business network thatcreates solutions through sport.Prof Yunus also collaborated with the IOC on several projects,including educational elements of the IOC young leader’s program focusing on human development through peace and sport. He not onlyshares the wealth of knowledge with the Olympic community, but alsohelps athletes in their post-sport career development to becomesocially responsible entrepreneurs.IOC President Thomas Bach commented that the recipient of numerous international awards for his ideas and endeavours including Nobelpeace prize in 2006, Prof Yunus remains a great inspiration for allsharing the vision how sport can contribute to the UN’s sustainabledevelopment goals.
Born in 1940 to a middle-class businessman’s family in Chittagong ofsouth Bangladesh, Prof Yunus studied in Chittagong and Dhaka and thenreached Vanderbilt University with a Fulbright scholarship to pursuehigher study on economics. He received his PhD in economics in 1969 and after some years teaching there the young Bangladeshi scholarreturned to his country in 1972, just one year after Bangladesh was born.
“Sport brings all human strengths and emotions into play. That givesit enormous power,” said Prof Yunus adding that the Olympic unites theentire world in peaceful competition, celebrating unity in diversity. If we embrace a new social and environmental awareness, where theeconomy is not a mere science, but a tool to optimise the potentialityof individuals, he claimed ‘we can create a new world’.
The octogenarian reminded that the novel corona virus has broughtnumerous challenges to various events including the extravaganza likeOlympics, but it also fetches a huge opportunity for the human race. Now it is necessary to put an individual back at the centre and work together to rebuild tomorrow, stated the author of ‘Building Social Business’, looking not to the past but to the future. While addressing the limited number of physical audiences with billions of television viewers around the world, the IOC President commented, “Today is a moment of hope. Yes, it is very different from what all of us had imagined. But let us cherish this moment.” He also added that selected athletes from 205 national Olympic committees and IOC refugee Olympic team arrived in Tokyo spreading the message of solidarity, peace and resilience to give everyone hope for the further journey.

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