Racing Towards Glory: Odisha Hosts the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze Today
This landmark reinforces Odisha's position as India's premier hub for athletics and international sporting events. The state's world-class infrastructure, athlete-focused policies, and strong international partnerships have earned global recognition. Athletes from India, Great Britain, Portugal, Australia, South Africa, Iraq, Iran, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Algeria, Turkmenistan, and more will compete across thrilling track and field events, with results impacting qualifications for upcoming international championships.
Odisha's journey to hosting this milestone began with the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships, which welcomed athletes from 45 nations. Since then, it has successfully staged prestigious competitions like the Federation Cup, Indian Grand Prix, National Inter-State Championships, and multiple junior nationals. The Kalinga Stadium, with its IAAF-certified synthetic track and international-grade facilities, stands at the heart of this achievement, supported by a growing network of district and block-level athletics stadiums.
The state's athlete-first approach—ranging from high-performance training and expert coaching to grassroots talent scouting in rural and tribal regions—has transformed potential into podium finishes. Odisha's athletes benefit from modern facilities, scientific training, nutritional guidance, financial support, and secure government jobs, making sports a sustainable career choice. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Suryabanshi Suraj, Hon'ble Sports Minister of Odisha, said, 'Hosting the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze in Odisha for the first time is a moment of immense pride. We are fully prepared to organise it successfully and deliver a world-class experience for athletes and spectators alike.'
More than just an international meet, today's event marks a turning point in India's sporting journey. For young athletes, it's a rare opportunity to witness top-tier competition up close—fueling ambition, inspiring dreams, and reinforcing Odisha's place on the global athletics map.
With the world watching, the cheers at Kalinga Stadium today will echo far beyond Bhubaneswar—signalling that Odisha has truly arrived on the world athletics stage.
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Hindustan Times
10 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Stuck in a loop: India's stagnant marathon scene
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India Today
21 hours ago
- India Today
Not just hockey: Inside Odisha's ambitious dream of turning into a sporting powerhouse
By hosting the prestigious World Athletics Continental Tour, Odisha has signalled that it is ready for bigger things. Long celebrated as the powerhouse of Indian hockey hosting, the state is now turning its sights to athletics, with a clear ambition to establish itself as the next multi-sport August 10, as athletes from 17 countries competed in sprints, jumps and throws at Bhubaneswar's Kalinga Stadium, Odisha once again proved that it could not only host world-class events, but do so with polish, professionalism, and a strong sense of why does it matter? It matters because the world is one family. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. As India nurtures its Olympic dream for 2036, the pressing question is: who is ready to carry the weight? While Ahmedabad is projected as the frontrunner, the country may also explore a multi-city model — an approach recently endorsed by the International Olympic Committee. 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At the time, the state did not even have enough rooms to accommodate the athletes and staff, so Odisha had to call upon the universities to help them out. They knew that they did not have the infrastructure to host the event, but they saw that as an opportunity, and did not back rise in sporting stature is a unique story in itself. Some might call it coincidence, some might call it design, but the truth is a simple one: that Odisha has tried to grab the opportunity whenever one presents for example, hockey. When the sport was at its lowest ebb in terms of popularity, investment, and infrastructure, Odisha took the bold steps of not only sponsoring the Indian national team but also hosting two FIH Hockey World Cups. The Kalinga Stadium and the new Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela were made and are now regarded as two of the best venues in the eyebrows were raised at that time. One state whose priorities should be poverty reduction, why are they getting into these things? Little did people understand at that point of time, that sport is an economy in itself. If you are promoting sport, it is not at the cost of your economic developmental goals. Sports also contribute to the economy,' a department official told India ODISHA'S BOLD VISIONOdisha's latest push into athletics is a continuation of that vision. Under the leadership of newly elected Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, the ambition is clear: Odisha wants to become India's sporting backbone in the run-up to the 2036 Olympics.'Frankly it takes political will to first have a vision and then to pull off a big project,' Majhi told India has recently announced a massive undertaking. A Rs 4,124 crore investment that has never been heard of before in the Indian BJP government under Majhi has declared an ambitious scheme for construction of the stadiums at block are 314 blocks in Odisha. Each block will have one stadium, which will consist of one football ground, one athletic track of 400 meters, two badminton courts, and one indoor a holistic complex. We have finalised lands, we have finalised the procurement processes, and the construction process will start in the next three or four months. It is a five-year scheme,' Majhi said. Odisha is aiming to become India's sporting backbone in the run-up to Olympics 2036 (Courtesy: Kingshuk Kusari/India Today) This project, once it reaches the public, is expected to earn laurels from athletes, who for long have asked for block-level interventions in the sporting landscape of like Manasi Joshi, former world No. 1 in para badminton, have vouched for these facilities that help the masses get access to sport with Odisha government right now understands that it is addressing the three pillars while building a sporting culture:Infrastructure. Coaching. infrastructure is already there, and it is expanding. Kalinga Stadium is perhaps the only sporting complex in India which has an indoor stadium, a practice arena, a main stadium, and a sports science centre, side by the infrastructure sorted, Odisha's next focus is on finding coaches, both local and international, to help out the new crop of players. And that part is expected to feed multiple competitions that Odisha is hosting, at a state, national and international ODISHA SPORTS MODELOdisha's expansion as a sporting ecosystem has not happened overnight. It was done with meticulous planning. Once Odisha decided to shift in this direction, it took a two-pronged multiple officials were sent across the world to find out how the best stadiums were being run, and what it took to build venues like that. The feedback helped them build incredible infrastructure with the help of private entities like Reliance, Tata and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, who have picked up one discipline each and are in charge of building that the Sports Science Centre at the Kalinga Stadium for example. Run jointly by the Abhinav Bindra Foundation and the state government, the facility gives world-class recovery options including cryotherapy, dream pods and an anti-gravity treadmill to help athletes make a comeback from is open for all athletes from the country, but they have to take permission from the state government to avail the facilities. The Sports Science Centre at the Kalinga Stadium offers world-class recovery facilities for athletes (Courtesy: Kingshuk Kusari/India Today) The second one was slightly unrelated. Over the course of the last 5 years, Odisha started to heavily invest in tourism to bring up the number of top hotels in the was the logic, you ask?'When you bring in top players from other countries, where will they stay? You need to bring up facilities to accommodate them, something we learnt from the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships,' Sachin Jadhav, the Sports Secretary of Odisha at the end of the day, generates massive indirect development. Jadhav, who is the former director of tourism of the state, says that any one-star hotel sees an investment of about Rs 1 crore. A five-star room generates direct employment of 3 people, and an indirect employment of 10, and that is how sports works. The Sports Science Centre at the Kalinga Stadium is run jointly by the Abhinav Bindra Foundation and Odisha state government (Courtesy: Kingshuk Kusari/India Today) The Rs 4000 crore investment is only an extension of that idea.'Any investment must have a multiplier effect,' said the Odisha CM. 'We've ensured that our spend on sports builds not just athletes, but tourism, jobs, and local identity. From logistics to lighting, from school engagement to crowd management, everything was planned with precision.'RETURN OF INVESTMENTOdisha expects to gain a massive socio-economic dividend from the investment. CM Majhi and the Sports Secretary both state that Rs 4000 crore over a period of 5 years is a small part of the annual budget of the state, which runs in the range of Rs 3 lakh them, the percentage is not daunting at all, in fact, it is quite takes the example of a high-performance centre in Puri, which specialises in Kho Kho players.'In our Puri HPC, the total investment was Rs 52 crore. We built the infrastructure there, and it is maintained by a private entity.''Now our Kho Kho kids have beaten Maharashtra in the nationals. This has brought a wave of enthusiasm in other districts. So now many more kids want to get into the game.'He states that once the kids win a tournament, they get cash prizes, the kind of money their families have never seen before. Further, the kids are given education, which combines with the sporting excellence and gives them an edge in securing government jobs through sports quota, helping them take care of their families.'It is a holistic development. Whoever gets into these sports hostels, they are almost assured of some form of financial security. I believe that this model will be followed in the country sooner or later,' Jadhav government sees these moments as critical for shaping long-term sporting culture. Exposure, aspiration, and access are being built simultaneously — a rare combination in Indian BIGGER PICTURE: WHY ODISHA MATTERSIndia's Olympic ambitions are bold, but they need a solid foundation. As things stand, the country would benefit from multiple cities stepping up to share the responsibility of hosting the Games. If states like Odisha take responsibility for key verticals — like athletics or hockey — and continue building infrastructure, India may just be able to present a decentralised model of Olympic readiness. After all, only in 2020, the Olympics body approved the idea of hosting the Games across cities.'There are 28 states and 8 union territories. If five or six of us take leadership on different sports, India can prepare for the Olympics in a way no one has imagined,' CM Majhi said. 'Odisha is ready to shoulder that responsibility. We've done it before. We will do it again.'In that sense, Odisha isn't just preparing itself. It's preparing hosting international events to lighting up Sunday nights with fireworks, Odisha is rewriting the rulebook on how a state can shape national sports policy. Whether it's hockey, athletics, or grassroots engagement, the state's approach is bold, structured, and deeply a country where sport is often treated as an afterthought, Odisha is treating it like a calling. And as India prepares to knock on the doors of the International Olympic Committee, the rest of the country would do well to watch and learn.- Ends
The Hindu
2 days ago
- The Hindu
Austrian MotoGP 2025, Qualifying: Marc Marquez crashes, Marco Bezzecchi claims first pole of the season
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