Indian athletics contingent with 24 medals, eight of them gold finished second behind China in the medal tally at the Asian Athletics Championships in South Korea
The AFI (Athletics Federation of India) has conceptualized a robust monitoring system to enhance performance of the Indian track and field contingent at the 2026 Asian and Commonwealth Games.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games will be held from July 23 to August 2 in Glasgow. The Asian Games will be held later from September 19 to October 4 in Japan.
Nearly 11 months after decentralization of the national coaching camps post 2024 Paris Olympic Games held in France (July 26 to August 11), the overall results were encouraging at the Gumi Asian Athletics Championships held in South Korea from May 27 to 31 and the domestic competitions, spokesperson of AFI Adille Sumariwalla said.
During a one-day meeting held here in New Delhi on Friday with all the stakeholders, including government and private entities, on the successful decentralisation training model, Sumariwalla said there was apprehension of doping and not so encouraging performance as top athletes were training across the country at different centres after decentralisation. “But both the issues were successfully tackled due to a good monitoring system,” Sumariwalla, vice president of World Athletics said.
He added: “The national team finished second with 24 medals, eight of them gold behind China in the medal tally in the continental meet. Several national records were also improved in Gumi, which augurs well for the future.”
To further have a significant impact at the continental and global track and field in future, Sumariwalla urged all the stakeholders to work together. “There is a big pool of over 1,000 athletes, including elite training across various training centres. All the stakeholders including departments and private entities should work in tandem for holistic development of track and field in the country,” Sumariwalla added.
Sumariwalla said all the stakeholders should strictly follow AFI guidelines on annual competition calendar to give more opportunities to promising athletes. “Domestic competition has become more competitive. AFI has also introduced regional competitions. Private institutions and government departments should encourage athletes to compete on home ground rather than send athletes abroad to compete in low key events,” he added.
On the doping menace, Sumariwalla urged all the stakeholders to take strict action against the culprits. “AFI has no needle policy and zero tolerance to doping. But accountability of the officials/coaches at the district/state level whose athletes test positive for performance enhancing drugs should be fixed. Strict punishment will act as a deterrent.”
