How the Continental Tour sets the bedrock for India's Olympics dream
Over the past year, both PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have said it out loud: India wants to host the Olympics in 2036.Ahmedabad has already been pitched as the central venue, with other cities like Bhopal (rowing), Goa (football and sailing) expected to play satellite roles.While those are the early outlines of an ambitious dream, it's on the eastern edge of the country — in Odisha — where some of the groundwork is already being laid. Bhubaneshwar has not just emerged as a hub for hockey but is now stepping into the athletics spotlight.Why Bhubaneshwar?The Continental Tour, for the uninitiated, is a series of global meets under the World Athletics umbrella — one step below the Diamond League. In Bhubaneshwar, nearly 160 athletes from 17 countries will compete. It's not a massive event by international standards, but it's high-level enough to turn heads.And that's the point.Adille Sumariwalla, former AFI chief and currently one of the vice presidents of World Athletics, told India Today in an exclusive interaction that getting the event wasn't straightforward — it had to be earned.'We wanted to host a silver or gold level event, but they gave us bronze since it was our first time. We had to pitch for it. We showed them the medals we've been winning globally. We made our case.'Sumariwalla broke down what it takes to bring such an event to India.'You have to pitch the event. Make a case for why they should give it to you. Then they assess whether you have the capability or not. If you don't, they won't risk it because the performance of the event affects future selections. If it's not run properly, then the entire process is questioned.'
Adille Sumariwalla (left) said that the chance to host the Continental Tour had to be earned (Image credit: Kingshuk Kusari)
Before the green light was given, World Athletics checked everything — stadium infrastructure, logistics, transport links, air connectivity, you name it. Sumariwalla says this is essentially like conducting a mini Asian Championships. 'The equipment standards are the same. The competition format is international-level. We've taken care of all that.'How were the World Athletics Officials Convinced?The seed for this was planted in 2017, when Bhubaneshwar hosted the Asian Athletics Championships. That's when India really began to change minds within the World Athletics community.'The President of World Athletics was here, the CEO was here, the Communications Director, the International Affairs Director — they all saw the quality of the event. That left an impression,' Sumariwalla said.
Bhubaneshwar is stepping into the athletics spotlight by hosting the Continental tour (Image credit: Kingshuk Kusari)
advertisementThat's when the narrative shifted. That's when India went from a country with potential to a country with capability.India's Olympic DreamsHosting this bronze-level meet is only step one. The AFI and the Odisha government are already thinking ahead. The expectation is that a successful event here will lead to silver or gold level meets next — maybe even a Diamond League in the next few years.'We're 100 percent bidding for the 2029 and 2031 World Athletics Championships. 2027 is with China, so that's gone. But we're preparing bids — one for Bhubaneshwar and another for Ahmedabad,' Sumariwalla revealed.If those bids go through, it puts India on a realistic timeline toward an eventual Olympics bid. For decades, the idea of hosting the Olympics felt like a distant fantasy — something that happened in cities like London, Beijing, or Los Angeles. But with every international event pulled off smoothly, every medal won on the world stage, and every small city that steps up to the global sporting spotlight, India chips away at that narrative.Bhubaneshwar isn't just hosting a bronze-level meet. It carries the belief that global sport can thrive here, that India can deliver, especially at the biggest stage.- Ends
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India Today
2 hours ago
- India Today
Brothers of Destruction: How the relay team is driving India's athletics revolution
The Brothers of Destruction are leading India's athletics revolution (Courtesy: Reliance Foundation) India is seeing an athletics revolution The 4 fastest sprinters are constantly pushing each other James Hillier gives a behind-the-scenes insight to India Today On a humid Sunday evening in Odisha, a dejected Lalu Bhoi walked up to the press after finishing fourth in the men's 100m sprint. The local boy, who hoped to be in the medal standings, missed the podium by 0.04 seconds, having clocked 10.54 in the 1st Indian Continental Tour. The result wasn't the end of the world. Lalu said that he had a tremendous bunch of people around him, who always lent a hand when things got difficult. 'Amlan, Gurindervir, Manikanta, they treat me like their brother. I am doing well (PB 10.34), they tell me that if we do not push each other, then who will? And they tell me that I will also get to the top level, and they will help me get there.' The words from Lalu give a reflection of an incredible value system that has been built by coaches James Hillier and Martin Owens at the Reliance Foundation. The top four sprinters â€' Animesh Kujur, Gurindervir Singh, Manikanta Hoblidhar and Amlan Borgohain â€' have broken each other's records in the race to become India's fastest man. Young Animesh is at the top of the pile right now, having beaten Gurindervir's record at the Dromia meet in Greece. And now he has a target on his back. He cannot sit back and bask in his glory. The Making of Brothers of Destruction Sprinting is an intense competition. It is an ancient sport that brings out the primal instincts of a man. In 10 seconds or less, you put every single muscle of your body in unison, under intense pressure. When you hear the clap, you get out of the box as fast as you can, and then you run, run and run. It is each man to their own, and it is rare that you find friends on the track in such a hostile environment. When they are on their own, they are Animesh, Guri, Mani, and Amlan, but together, they become the Brothers of Destruction. The Brothers of Destruction constantly push themselves to get better on the track (Image Credit: Reliance Foundation) Their camaraderie is more than a nickname. That bond extends off the track as well, one that has been carefully nurtured inside the high-performance environment of the Reliance Foundation. In Indian sprinting, where most breakthroughs have been individual, this quartet has found something different: identity, rhythm, and trust, together. At the 2025 National Relay Carnival in Chandigarh, they broke the long-standing national record from the 2010 Commonwealth Games (38.89s), clocking a blistering 38.69 seconds. 'You know, they are four great young people. They really are. They're real role models now, and becoming more and more important in the country,' James Hillier, the Athletics Director of the foundation told India Today in an exclusive interview. Hillier directly oversees the 4x100m squad. In competitions, once they run their individual events, they have to quickly make a shift in mentality to race the 4x100. That shift in mentality cannot happen without chemistry, says Hillier. 'The camaraderie is very important. And the chemistry as well. You need to know where exactly the baton is going to be. The first leg runner needs to tell the second leg runner where exactly the hand needs to be. So we start creating leaders in the team. So you know, I might be the head coach, but I need them to be coached by each other,' Hillier says. There are examples of national disasters in the relay event. The teams from the USA and Great Britain have consistently been affected by the lack of chemistry, despite having four of their best sprinters on track. Hillier says that members of the US and GB teams used to dislike each other in the mid-2000s and 2010s, which significantly impacted their performances on the track. 'When Britain won the 4x100m relay in the 2017 World Championships, they did it without Reece Prescod, their fastest runner. He was not buying into the culture, so they kicked him out of the relay.' When there is no chemistry, there are no results. The glaring example of that is the USA team who had a string of failures through 2004–2021, nearly two decades. USA Men's Team in Olympics 2004 Athens: A clumsy exchange left the US men in silver behind Team GB. 2008 Beijing: US dropped the baton, failed to advance beyond the heats. 2012 London: US finished second but were later disqualified for a doping offense. 2016 Rio: US botched the baton exchange and were disqualified. 2021 Tokyo: Once again a clumsy exchange led to them getting knocked out in the heats. It got so bad in the US, that legendary Carl Lewis snapped and asked the system to be blown up. Driving the Athletics Revolution of India For an emerging country like India, they cannot afford for this to happen. The quartet have been able to bring the athletics revolution in the country, and one bad event can push that progress back by years. 'With relay, it is not about the 4 fastest athletes, it is about the four guys who are together the fastest. You could pick the four fastest in a team, and then the four who have better chemistry. The ones with better chemistry will win.' The camaraderie has also helped the four athletes push each other to the limit. And it's not just unity and baton chemistry that's evolved â€' raw speed has too. In Pics: How Odisha aced the 1st Indian Continental Tour When James came to India and joined the Reliance Foundation in 2019, the top athletes in India were running 10.5. Earlier, the benchmark of a good sprint runner was seen as 10.5, and if you were running 10.3 and 10.4, you were seen as a hero. If you ran 10.2, then invariably, you had the national record. Hillier remembers a time when '10.5 was a big deal,' but now, 'guys no one's even heard of' are running 10.2. 'You know Pranav won the Fed Cup. Everyone was thinking that the three Reliance boys will come in the top 3, but the question was in which order, but then Pranav came out of nowhere and won it.' 'Now people are running 10.2, and soon you will see them running 10.1,' Hillier stressed. The Briton is no less than a visionary. He had predicted way back that a javelin revolution would come to India with Neeraj Chopra. And it did. India now has several stars who throw 80+ meters. The latest entrant in that club is 20-year-old Shivam Lohakare from Maharashtra, who clinched the second spot in the recently concluded Indian Continental Tour in Bhubaneswar. James Hilliers considers all four men to be his favourites (Image Credit: Reliance Foundation) James states that India's athletics revolution is here, and it is these four athletes â€' Animesh, Guri, Amlan and Manikanta â€' who are driving it. 'They are all my favourites you know, and they all piss me off,' jokes Hillier. 'They are good guys you know. There is good banter. Amlan now winds up Animesh because he won the bronze in World University Games. He has the bragging rights now. But then Animesh winds him up back, saying that I broke your record,' Hillier concluded. If things go according to plan, the Brothers of Destruction are likely to be one of the medal favourites in the 2026 Asian Games. Their best 38.69s would have secured them the bronze in the previous edition of the competition. But James is slightly conservative about that. Hope is cruel. It kills. But medal or no medal, one thing cannot be taken away. It is the fact that Indian athletics is already seeing the ripple effects of the brilliance of this quartet, who are striving to reach a common goal, leaving their egos and inhibitions behind. They all want to be the 'top dog' as Hillier says, but they also share the common goal of taking India to the peak on the world stage. We don't know if these four will be the ones to do it â€' to stand on the Olympic podium â€' but someday, someone will. And when they do, they'll owe it to the men who turned hope into a system. Not just runners, but builders. Not just a team, but brothers. On a humid Sunday evening in Odisha, a dejected Lalu Bhoi walked up to the press after finishing fourth in the men's 100m sprint. The local boy, who hoped to be in the medal standings, missed the podium by 0.04 seconds, having clocked 10.54 in the 1st Indian Continental Tour. The result wasn't the end of the world. Lalu said that he had a tremendous bunch of people around him, who always lent a hand when things got difficult. 'Amlan, Gurindervir, Manikanta, they treat me like their brother. I am doing well (PB 10.34), they tell me that if we do not push each other, then who will? And they tell me that I will also get to the top level, and they will help me get there.' The words from Lalu give a reflection of an incredible value system that has been built by coaches James Hillier and Martin Owens at the Reliance Foundation. The top four sprinters â€' Animesh Kujur, Gurindervir Singh, Manikanta Hoblidhar and Amlan Borgohain â€' have broken each other's records in the race to become India's fastest man. Young Animesh is at the top of the pile right now, having beaten Gurindervir's record at the Dromia meet in Greece. And now he has a target on his back. He cannot sit back and bask in his glory. The Making of Brothers of Destruction Sprinting is an intense competition. It is an ancient sport that brings out the primal instincts of a man. In 10 seconds or less, you put every single muscle of your body in unison, under intense pressure. When you hear the clap, you get out of the box as fast as you can, and then you run, run and run. It is each man to their own, and it is rare that you find friends on the track in such a hostile environment. When they are on their own, they are Animesh, Guri, Mani, and Amlan, but together, they become the Brothers of Destruction. The Brothers of Destruction constantly push themselves to get better on the track (Image Credit: Reliance Foundation) Their camaraderie is more than a nickname. That bond extends off the track as well, one that has been carefully nurtured inside the high-performance environment of the Reliance Foundation. In Indian sprinting, where most breakthroughs have been individual, this quartet has found something different: identity, rhythm, and trust, together. At the 2025 National Relay Carnival in Chandigarh, they broke the long-standing national record from the 2010 Commonwealth Games (38.89s), clocking a blistering 38.69 seconds. 'You know, they are four great young people. They really are. They're real role models now, and becoming more and more important in the country,' James Hillier, the Athletics Director of the foundation told India Today in an exclusive interview. Hillier directly oversees the 4x100m squad. In competitions, once they run their individual events, they have to quickly make a shift in mentality to race the 4x100. That shift in mentality cannot happen without chemistry, says Hillier. 'The camaraderie is very important. And the chemistry as well. You need to know where exactly the baton is going to be. The first leg runner needs to tell the second leg runner where exactly the hand needs to be. So we start creating leaders in the team. So you know, I might be the head coach, but I need them to be coached by each other,' Hillier says. There are examples of national disasters in the relay event. The teams from the USA and Great Britain have consistently been affected by the lack of chemistry, despite having four of their best sprinters on track. Hillier says that members of the US and GB teams used to dislike each other in the mid-2000s and 2010s, which significantly impacted their performances on the track. 'When Britain won the 4x100m relay in the 2017 World Championships, they did it without Reece Prescod, their fastest runner. He was not buying into the culture, so they kicked him out of the relay.' When there is no chemistry, there are no results. The glaring example of that is the USA team who had a string of failures through 2004–2021, nearly two decades. USA Men's Team in Olympics 2004 Athens: A clumsy exchange left the US men in silver behind Team GB. 2008 Beijing: US dropped the baton, failed to advance beyond the heats. 2012 London: US finished second but were later disqualified for a doping offense. 2016 Rio: US botched the baton exchange and were disqualified. 2021 Tokyo: Once again a clumsy exchange led to them getting knocked out in the heats. It got so bad in the US, that legendary Carl Lewis snapped and asked the system to be blown up. Driving the Athletics Revolution of India For an emerging country like India, they cannot afford for this to happen. The quartet have been able to bring the athletics revolution in the country, and one bad event can push that progress back by years. 'With relay, it is not about the 4 fastest athletes, it is about the four guys who are together the fastest. You could pick the four fastest in a team, and then the four who have better chemistry. The ones with better chemistry will win.' The camaraderie has also helped the four athletes push each other to the limit. And it's not just unity and baton chemistry that's evolved â€' raw speed has too. In Pics: How Odisha aced the 1st Indian Continental Tour When James came to India and joined the Reliance Foundation in 2019, the top athletes in India were running 10.5. Earlier, the benchmark of a good sprint runner was seen as 10.5, and if you were running 10.3 and 10.4, you were seen as a hero. If you ran 10.2, then invariably, you had the national record. Hillier remembers a time when '10.5 was a big deal,' but now, 'guys no one's even heard of' are running 10.2. 'You know Pranav won the Fed Cup. Everyone was thinking that the three Reliance boys will come in the top 3, but the question was in which order, but then Pranav came out of nowhere and won it.' 'Now people are running 10.2, and soon you will see them running 10.1,' Hillier stressed. The Briton is no less than a visionary. He had predicted way back that a javelin revolution would come to India with Neeraj Chopra. And it did. India now has several stars who throw 80+ meters. The latest entrant in that club is 20-year-old Shivam Lohakare from Maharashtra, who clinched the second spot in the recently concluded Indian Continental Tour in Bhubaneswar. James Hilliers considers all four men to be his favourites (Image Credit: Reliance Foundation) James states that India's athletics revolution is here, and it is these four athletes â€' Animesh, Guri, Amlan and Manikanta â€' who are driving it. 'They are all my favourites you know, and they all piss me off,' jokes Hillier. 'They are good guys you know. There is good banter. Amlan now winds up Animesh because he won the bronze in World University Games. He has the bragging rights now. But then Animesh winds him up back, saying that I broke your record,' Hillier concluded. If things go according to plan, the Brothers of Destruction are likely to be one of the medal favourites in the 2026 Asian Games. Their best 38.69s would have secured them the bronze in the previous edition of the competition. But James is slightly conservative about that. Hope is cruel. It kills. But medal or no medal, one thing cannot be taken away. It is the fact that Indian athletics is already seeing the ripple effects of the brilliance of this quartet, who are striving to reach a common goal, leaving their egos and inhibitions behind. They all want to be the 'top dog' as Hillier says, but they also share the common goal of taking India to the peak on the world stage. We don't know if these four will be the ones to do it â€' to stand on the Olympic podium â€' but someday, someone will. And when they do, they'll owe it to the men who turned hope into a system. Not just runners, but builders. Not just a team, but brothers. Join our WhatsApp Channel
New Indian Express
3 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Key is to let to team shine first, says Hockey team vice captain Hardik Singh
I think we are back to how we were ahead of the Paris Olympics last year,' says star midfielder Hardik Singh during a quick chat after what has been an unusual day for the Indian hockey team – they've just finished playing a casual game of Kabaddi with the Gujarat Giants at the Sports Authority of India grounds – a day before they board flights to Australia to compete in a four-match series. He adds, 'Everyone has been focusing on their diet and physical form. We've had to keep in mind that Australia plays very physical matches and their mindset is really strong – we need to match that.' Having won the 2022 Asian Games and scored a bronze at the last two Olympics, the last few years have been big for the Indian men's field hockey team, which Singh has been vice-captaining since 2023. Reflecting on his personal growth as a leader, the Arjuna awardee says, 'I've seen many captains in my junior and senior term years like PR Sreejesh, Manpreet Singh and Harmanpreet Singh, so I've learnt what happens in captaincy and how to treat juniors – appreciating them can really raise confidence and boost the game. But in this team, we don't need a single leader, but five to six in every match who can show the team how things are to be done.' On leading alongside captain Harmanpreet Singh, he notes that it's all about balance. 'I know him from a very long time on and off the field. We have that kind of friendship where, inside the field, I know sometimes I can be aggressive and he can be a little cool, or the other way round. You always need that combination for the team,' he says. While the nation celebrated the team's bronze win at last year's Paris Olympics, Singh considers it a loss, saying, 'In my view, we may have won a medal, but we didn't win the semi-final. The feeling of winning gold is something else. I'm not saying I'm sad but this is how you get competitiveness in an athlete, how you learn and improve – by asking more from yourself.' How does he overcome losses like this? The key is to stay grounded. 'I'm still learning how to overcome disappointment but I've been getting better. The key is to keep going. You should never take a loss to your heart and a win to your head,' shares Singh. With the 2026 World Cup right around the corner, and the team set to play in the Hero Asia Cup, which is a world cup qualifier within a week of the Australia tour, Singh eyes the top prize. He sees it as a personal comeback as well as one for the team. 'In my first World Cup, I was an amateur and in the second, I got injured and didn't get a chance to play. However, the most important thing is to let the team shine first, and win this World Cup,' Singh adds.
Hindustan Times
6 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Aldrin, Shaili struggles weigh on India's long jump
New Delhi: Murali Sreeshankar's 8.13m winning effort at Sunday's World Athletics Continental Tour meet in Bhubaneswar continues his steady comeback after a year out due to injury, but Indian long jump otherwise seemed to have tapered off. Murali Sreeshankar won with a 8.13m effort at Sunday's World Athletics Continental Tour meet in Bhubaneswar. (IIS) Sreeshankar's final jump that ensured victory, although still 14 cm shy of automatic qualification for next month's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, was among the positives from India staging a meet of this stature. The men's javelin competition taking place around the same time at the Kalinga Stadium on a hot and humid evening saw a bunch of Indian throwers perform at a promising level, perhaps a reflection of the Neeraj Chopra effect. It didn't seem the case in long jump. While Sreeshankar was straining to win the event from 21-year-old Shahnavaz Khan – his 8.04m was the best till the 26-year-old bettered it in his final attempt – young national record holder Jeswin Aldrin had hobbled off without a jump, citing a left ankle niggle. At 23, Aldrin, whose national mark of 8.42m was set in 2023, should be touching his prime. However, the Reliance trainee has been grappling with a series of injuries instead. His best this season is 7.83m, at the federation championships in Kochi in April. It wasn't very promising in women's long jump either. Shaili Singh, the Anju Bobby George academy product who is trained by her husband Bobby George, only managed a modest 6.28m. The 21-year-old former junior world silver medallist has a best of 6.76m and touched 6.64m at the April federation championships, but she also said an ankle problem in her take-off leg hampered her. When Sreeshankar was ruled out of the 2024 Paris Olympics with injury, Aldrin was expected to provide a good impression of Indian long jump's progress. But he was eliminated after a best of 7.61m in qualification. The last time Aldrin hit 8 metres was in August 2023. He has also struggled with his left knee that he injured during the Budapest World Championships that year. In 16 competitions since, his best is 7.99m. James Hillier, athletics director at Reliance High Performance Centre, said: 'Jeswin is a tremendous talent but unfortunately he is struggling a little with his body. He'll be back stronger next season.' Last year, only one Indian, Aditya Kumar Singh of Uttar Pradesh, crossed 8m. Shaili's stagnation is surprising. Seen as the one likely to surpass Anju's national mark of 6.83m – it was set in 2004 – since her success as a junior, she finished fifth in the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games (6.48m). In Bhubaneswar, Shaili managed only two legal jumps, though her 6.28m was good to win from a depleted field. Ancy Sojan, the Hangzhou silver medallist, pulled out citing a muscle strain in her take-off leg. Since May 2023, Shaili has crossed 6.60m only twice and her chance of qualifying for Tokyo looks dim. The entry standard is 6.86m while Shaili's Road to Tokyo ranking is 61 where only the top 36 qualify. Shaili said: 'I am not too disappointed with the result considering that I was competing with a niggle in the take-off ankle. I'll end my season at the Inter State in Chennai (August 20-24) and take time off for rest and recovery.' Perhaps Aldrin and Shaili will benefit from proper recovery and rehabilitation. Shahnavaz though holds some promise. Sreeshankar's younger training partner at SAI Thiruvananthapuram had a second best effort of 7.88m. 'He is a great kid and an amazing talent to watch out for,' Sreeshankar said. 'Even if I had lost to Shahnavaz, I would have been alright because he is a very good talent.' Bihar's 24-year-old Sunny Kumar is also seen as having potential. He disappointed on Sunday – he was 10th with a best of 7.25m – although Kumar jumped a personal best of 7.90m at the Indian Open in Bengaluru in June. Sreeshankar, Shahnavaz and Kumar are all expected to take part in the Chennai Inter State meet.
