Athletics

World Athletics Head Coe awaits India's bid for 2029 championships

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe says his organisation will "await with interest" India's expected bid for the 2029 World Championships but indicated that there will be tough competition from other countries to get the hosting right of the showpiece. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is set to formally express its interest to host the 2029 World Championships when the process is launched in the next few months, in line with the country's plan to stage a series of high-profile events to mount a serious bid for the 2036 Olympics. "The 2029 World Championships, look, we will await with interest (India's expected bid). I have to tell you, we've got a lot of interest in those Championships already, and the process will open shortly," Coe replied to a PTI question during a virtual conference with the global media. It was in December last year when the AFI first revealed its intention to bid for the 2029 World Championships. The bidding process is expected to start in ...

Adidas, Nike supplier Hong Fu enters India to foot manufacturing push

Hong Fu, the world's second-largest manufacturer of non-leather athletic footwear, produces approximately 200 million pairs of sports shoes annually

India's Neeraj Chopra set to part ways with coach Klaus Bartonietz

The hugely successful partnership between star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and his long-time coach Klaus Bartonietz of Germany is set to end after five years of working together. The 75-year-old Bartonietz has cited his age and family commitments to part ways with Chopra. "He (Bartonietz) is 75 and he now wants to be with his family and does not want too much travel also," an official of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) told PTI. "It is not that Neeraj wants to end the association, it is Bartonietz who has expressed his inability to continue as his (Neeraj's) coach," he added. The 26-year-old Chopra has been working with Bartonietz, who is a biomechanics expert but doubled up as Chopra's coach, since 2019. The German first came on board as a biomechanical expert and took over as Chopra's coach after Uwe Hohn fell out with the AFI and the Sports Authority of India. Under Bartonietz, Chopra won Tokyo Olympics gold, Paris Games silver, became world champion and Diamo

Injury is fine now, next target is 2025 world championship: Neeraj Chopra

Promising to be 100 per cent fit for the new season, India's two-time Olympic medal-winning javelin throw star Neeraj Chopra on Friday said a podium finish in the 2025 Tokyo World Championships is the next big target on his mind going forward. The 26-year-old is back in the country after winding up his season with a second-place finish at the Diamond League finale in Brussels. This was after he became the first Indian track-and-field athlete to claim successive Olympic medals by adding a silver in Paris to the momentous gold clinched in Tokyo. "The season is over now. The biggest target for next year is the World Championship, and we will begin preparations for that now. The Olympics are always on our minds, but we have four years for that," Neeraj told PTI Videos on the sidelines of a conference on 'Mission Olympics 2036' organised at the Sports University of Haryana here. The world championship is scheduled to be held from September 13 to 21 next year. Chopra battled an adductor

Diamond League athletics series to increase prize money from next season

The Diamond League track and field series is set to increase its prize money next season, World Athletics said Wednesday. The announcement comes as the World Athletics president Sebastian Coe bids to become president of the International Olympic Committee. The total prize money to be paid in 2025 will reach $9.2 million, the highest amount since the series launched in 2010. Next year's schedule includes 14 one-day meets and the two-day final in Zurich in August. At each meet, the total prize money per discipline will be between $30,000 and $50,000; and at the final between $60,000 and $100,000. The prize money is gender-equal.

Diamond League Final 2024 HIGHLIGHTS: Neeraj Chopra finishes in 2nd place with 87.86m throw

Neeraj Chopra missed out on the top spot this year by just 1 cm as Anderson Peters from Grenada took the Diamond trophy with an 87.87m throw on the night in Belgium.

Diamond League Final: Neeraj Chopra javelin throw live time, streaming

Neeraj Chopra will be up against a tough line-up featuring Paris 2024 bronze medallist Anderson Peters (Grenada) and Germany's Julian Weber among others

Armand Duplantis sets pole vault meet record in Diamond League 2024 Final

Pole vaulter Armand Duplantis capped a beautiful season with a meet record in the Diamond League Final that was far from his world record. Duplantis has broken the world record three times this year; the second time was when he won his second Olympic gold medal in Paris, and the most recent in a league meet in Poland on Aug. 25, clearing 6.26 meters. But after he made 5.92 that nobody else could match in Brussels, he nailed 6.11 at his first attempt and stopped. That was one centimeter more than his own Memorial Van Damme record set last year, and he said he was too tired to continue. Afterwards, he said his 100-meter victory over 400 hurdles world record-holder Karsten Warholm in Zurich last week took more out of him than expected. My legs felt terrible tonight and I'm just really tired, Duplantis said. "It's been a crazy couple of weeks: The race against Karsten and then I had to jump the day after. That took a lot more from my body that I expected. With 6.11 I got a good result

Avinash Sable finishes ninth in his maiden Diamond League final

National record holder 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable finished ninth in the season-ending Diamond League final with a below-par time here on Friday. Birthday boy Sable, who turned 30 on Friday, clocked 8 minute and 17.09 seconds to finish ninth in the 10-man field in his debut DL final. Amos Serem of Kenya emerged as the Diamond League champion with a time of 8:06.90, while reigning Olympic and world champion Soufiane El Bakkali (8:08.60) of Morocco was second in the season-ending finale. Mohamed Amin Jhinaoui of Tunisia was third with 8:09.68. World champion and Paris Olympics silver medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will be in action on Saturday. Sable had finished 11th in the Paris Olympic Games with a time of 8:14.18. He had finished 14th in the overall Diamond League standings with three points from two meetings. But four athletes ranked higher than him -- Lamecha Girma (injured) of Ethiopia, Geordie Beamish of New Zealand, Ryuji Mura of Japan and Hillary Bor of the

Diamond League Final: Avinash Sable 3000m steeplechase live time, streaming

Avinash Sable holds the national record for the 3,000 m steeplechase run which he broke during the 2024 Paris Olympics final

AFI to rejig qualification system, domestic calendar from next season

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) plans to restructure the domestic competition and qualification system for major international events from the 2025 season, president Adille Sumariwalla said here on Wednesday. While interacting with the media on the sidelines of the fourth edition of South Asian Junior Athletics Championship that got underway at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Sumariwalla said there is a plan to restructure the qualification system for international events in future so that the athletes are able to peak at the right time. The AFI president also pointed out that the sudden decline in the performance graph of the Indian athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games was a concern. "To qualify for major international events the athletes will have to compete in a certain number of domestic competitions to earn valuable points," Sumariwalla added. "A steady performance will be a big advantage to get a nod from the AFI selection panel." The 2025 Asian Athletics Championships

Srihari Natraj wins; Tamil Nadu quartet breaks mixed 4x100m medley record

Karnataka's Srihari Natraj won the men's 100m freestyle while the Tamil Nadu quartet of Pramiti Gnanasekaran, Danush Suresh, B Bendection Rohit, and Deeksha Sivakumar created a new record (4:05.30) in the mixed 4x100m medley at the Senior National Aquatic Championships here on Wednesday. The previous record (4:06.84) was held by Maharashtra, created in 2023. This time around Rishabh Anupam Das, Saanvi Deshwal, Mihir Ambre, and Aditi Satish Hegde represented Maharashtra in this event and finished second with 4:07.14. Vritti Agarwal, representing Telangana, took the lead in the initial laps of the women's 1500m freestyle and held on to touch the pads at 17:45.63. Karnataka's Shirin followed her in second place with a time of 17:50.61. Karnataka's Aneesh S Gowda broke away in the very first lap of the men's 800m freestyle and was the first to finish with a time of 8:20.01. He was followed by Dharshan S, also from Karnataka, who finished in 8:27.69. The women's 200m medley saw Manvai .

Avinash Sable to join Neeraj Chopra in Diamond League finale in Brussels

National record holder 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable will run in his maiden Diamond League Final in Brussels, joining star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra in the season-ending event, as he is listed among 12 participants for the winner-takes-all race on Friday. Sable finished 14th in the overall Diamond League standings with three points he garnered from two meetings. But four athletes ranked higher than him -- Lamecha Girma (injured) of Ethiopia, Geordie Beamish of New Zealand, Ryuji Mura of Japan and Hillary Bor of the USA -- are not taking part in the final. The season finale will be a two-day affair on September 13 and 14. The men's 3000m steeplechase is scheduled for September 13 while the men's javelin throw event will he held the next day. Five meetings out of the 14 in the DL series across the world this season had men's 3000m steeplechase event. The 29-year-old Sable had finished sixth with a national record time of 8:09.91 -- bettering his own earlier mark -- in the Par

Neeraj Chopra qualifies for Diamond League 2024 season finale in Brussels

India's two-time Olympic medal-winning javelin throw star Neeraj Chopra has qualified for this month's season finale of the prestigious Diamond League after finishing fourth in the overall standings at the end of its 14 series meetings across the world. The season finale will be a two-day affair on September 14 and 15 in Brussels. Chopra accumulated 14 points from his two second-place finishes in the one-day meets held in Doha and Lausanne. He skipped the last series meet in Zurich on Thursday. The 26-year-old is two points adrift of Czechia's Jakub Vadlech. Grenada's Anderson Peters and German star Julian Weber occupy the top two spots with 29 and 21 points respectively. Peters had pipped Weber in the Zurich meet. Chopra, who won gold in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and added a silver to his kitty in the Paris edition last month, has been struggling with his fitness this season. The Haryana-lad has talked about a groin injury troubling him since before the Olympic Games that has co

Why India's Neeraj Chopra opts out of Zurich Diamond League 2024?

India's Javelin star Neeraj Chopra won't be taking part in Zurich Diamond League with his spot in the final all but confirmed after a 2nd place finish in Laussane

India qualify for 4x400m mixed relay final at World Athletics U20 C'ships

The Indian quartet of Jay Kumar, Neeru Pahtak, Rihan Chaudhary and Sandramol Sabu qualified for the 4x400m mixed relay final after finishing overall third among 20 competing teams at the World Athletics U20 Championships here on Tuesday. The Indians clocked their season best performance of 3:22.54s to finish second in heat one and overall third. Australia's Jordan Gilbert, Bella Pasquali, Jack Deguara and Sophia Gregorevic topped the standings with a timing of 3:21.10. Polish quartet of Michal Kijewski, Wiktoria Gajosz, Stanislaw Strzelecki and Zofia Tomczyk recorded the overall second best timing with a season best effort of 3:21.92s.

Why Neeraj Chopra is one of the most consistent athletes of his generation

For Neeraj Chopra, the only milestone left is the elusive 90m mark and it's only a matter of time before he hits it.

Neeraj Chopra confirms his participation at Lausanne Diamond League

India's double Olympic medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Saturday confirmed his participation at the upcoming Diamond League meet in Lausanne on August 22. Nursing a long-standing groin injury, Chopra claimed a silver medal in the recently-concluded Paris Olympics, having won a historic gold in the Tokyo edition of the Games three years ago. "... I have finally decided to participate in the Lausanne Diamond League, which begins August 22," Chopra said during a virtual interaction. After a busy couple of days post the Olympic final on August 8, Chopra started training in Switzerland and is determined to finish the season on a high despite being restricted by the injury. Following the season-ending Diamond League in Brussels from September 13-14, Chopra will consult the doctors on his groin injury with surgery being the most likely option. "The final treatment will be after the season ends. There is just one month left. I will try to take care of it as much as possible and

Let's just leave it to the gods: Neeraj Chopra on 90m and beyond

Having missed out on breaching the elusive 90m mark at the Paris Games, two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra has left that widely debated matter "to the gods". After all, Chopra has been chasing that milestone for years and the wait got longer when his only legal throw of 89.45m got him a silver at the Paris Olympics earlier this month. A back-to-back medal at the Summer Games was a monumental feat for an Indian athlete but it was way short of Arshad Nadeem's sensational 92.97m that comfortably secured a historic gold for the Pakistani. Nursing a long-standing groin injury, Chopra managed to be on the podium and now he will be seen in the Lausanne Diamond League starting August 22. After a busy couple of days post the Olympic final on August 8, Chopra started training in Switzerland and is determined to finish the season on a high despite being restricted by the injury. "I need to leave it to gods now," he said when asked about his target throw in the foreseeable future. "I J

Paris Olympics 2024 Highlights: Aman Sehrawat wins bronze; Indian medal tally- Silver 1, Bronze 5

The Indian women's 4x400m relay team finished last in their heats while the men's team finished 5th in theirs with a season best finish. Check all updates from day 14 of the Paris Olympics 2024 here.