Humans of Olympics: The man who picks what Olympics content India consumes

Fifteen years ago, if you had asked Malay Desai, the college student, if he saw himself on the field of play at the Paris Olympics, he would have laughed at you. Yet here he is taking pictures of Rafael Nadal playing, perhaps, his last game in his French kingdom of Roland Garros. A picture of Nadal with his doubles partner Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning Wimbledon and French Open champion. The stunning image is up own his social media feed for the world to see and most of India will probably see it on the official Olympic handles too.
The Mumbai-based 38-year-old, who stumbled into the sports content business, is here with a five-member team (one woman among four men) attending his first Olympics creating content for the official Olympic channels and social media, mainly reels and videos.
Since the International Olympic Committee has a huge focus on social media, Desai has had a ringside view of all the events he has attended. He has seen India in action at hockey, boxing and badminton and also watched the game Nadal-Alcaraz lost.
Also Read: Catch HT’s comprehensive coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics here
“I was thrillingly close to the hockey action. So close to the touch line that volunteers warned us that balls could fly at us at very high speeds and we need to be alert so as to avoid serious injury. It’s as exciting as it can get when watching any sport. I’d never dreamt of watching the Olympics live, forget being this close to all the action. I am thoroughly enjoying this. We have been lucky to get influencer positions, which are prime spots, at the events,” says Desai, who also got to watch shuttler Lakshya Sen live in action.
Desai has been preparing for this gig since January and apart from creating content, he has to produce a daily show too. Desai is the man who decides what content makes it to the official Olympics feed and social media handles in India. The content he and his team create is visible to audiences in India only. Things have been rather busy for the last few months and he is looking forward to having his wife and daughter join him for a holiday in France once the Games are done. “I want to take my kids to Centre Pompidou and walk through the La Marais neighbourhood,” he said.