BHUBANESWAR: There is a small anecdote that led to hosting the first Indoor Athletics Championships of the country. Some top officials of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had visited the facility to watch not athletics but an international table tennis event. The beautiful Athletics Indoor hall was turned into a TT hall. The middle lanes were converted into a playing arena last October.
The venue was inaugurated in March 2024, but no athletics competition of repute was conducted here. The officials realised that the venue has to keep hosting events for its upkeep otherwise such a centre might go waste. The idea of the first National Indoor Championships was borne out of necessity. The next would be to host international events. The AFI bid for Asian and World Indoor Championships as well. "The idea is to keep the tracks alive and kicking," said one official. The World Athletics (WA) awarded the World Indoors to India during a meeting in Poland last week.
Some of the top athletics federation officials were witnessing the first national indoors from a makeshift platform. WA vice president and AFI spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla was among them. He just got back from Poland and said that hosting the World Indoors will mark a new era in indoor athletics.
The national indoors is just a beginning, and Sumariwalla felt that this would lead to a shift in perspective for Indian coaches as well. The attendance is not thin by numbers but stars are missing. There could be a ‘misconception’ of pre-season that could have led some of the big names to stay away from the competition. But national indoors is here to stay. It will be part of the national calendar.
"This is going to be a regular feature now on," he said, adding that athletes and coaches must realise that there is no pre-season or post-season. "Look at Armando Duplantis, he just bettered his indoor world record in pole vault again. He will do it outdoors as well. Other world's top athletes are competing indoors as well as outdoors. Indian athletes and coaches also must understand that there is no pre-season or we have to peak here and there. That time is over. It is a figment of our imagination. This is part of athletics and should not be considered part of the season."
Sumariwalla said that the national indoors will be in line with the Asian and World Indoors. "It will be conducted keeping in mind these two international competitions because it will help our athletes to compete abroad," he said.
For AFI, indoor facilities will create an environment in which the effect of extreme weather can be nullified. There are times when training in India is not possible because of extreme heat or rain or even cold. "The indoor facilities will help athletes to train throughout the year in a controlled environment," he said. In Europe, for instance, athletes practice indoors when the climate outside is very cold. One of the reasons indoor competitions are held early in the year is because of that.
The former AFI chief felt that as AFI starts conducting more indoor competitions, the entries will also increase. But before that he said the mindset of coaches should change. "We will get more competitors slowly as the nationals pick up," he said, adding, "because of the way our Indian coaches are. A lot of them think athletes are in pre-season or they are in off-season. The coaches abroad do not see it that way."
The two-day national indoors is just the start. The Mondo tracks are fast and the athletes have enjoyed participating here. It had to begin somewhere and this is the beginning. As of now, there is only one international indoor stadium. "I believe every state should have more than one facility," is what Sumariwalla felt. But for now, it will be Bhubaneswar that will be hosting all the national and international competitions.