India to bid for 2029 World Athletics Championship; express interest in hosting 2036 Olympics - AFI

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) revealed India will bid for the 2029 World Athletics Championship while expressing keen interest in hosting the 2036 Olympic Games. India, who was said to bid for the 2027 edition of the World Championship, decided against it, gearing up to formally put in the bid for the 2029 edition.

An AFI source claimed this, revealing what pushed them to change their strategy.

"Yes, we are interested in bidding for the 2029 World Athletics Championships," AFI senior Vice President Anju Bobby George told PTI on the sidelines of the AFI Annual General Body meeting in Amritsar. 

"India has expressed interest in hosting the 2036 Olympics and 2030 Youth Olympics. So, it will be very good if we can host the 2029 World Athletics Championships," the legendary long jumper added.

ALSO READ: IPL 2024 - Not Shahrukh Khan but THIS player will take Rayudu’s place in CSK: Ravi Ashwin

While the governing body – the World Athletics, had released a timeframe for the formal bidding for the 2027 edition, which commenced earlier this year, there is no update on when the bidding process for the 2029 World Championship will open. 

Meanwhile, the last edition of the World Athletics Championship took place in Budapest, Hungry and Tokyo in Japan will host it the next time in 2025. 

India keen on bagging hosting rights of 2036 Summer Games

When approached, the AFI source revealed the strategic plan behind India officially bidding for the Olympics in 2036.

"We want to achieve high performance, produce world beaters and win 5-6 medals in the 2036 Olympics," AFI Planning Commission chairman Lalit Bhanot said during the AGM.

With Bhanot being handed the responsibility of preparing the strategic plan, three separate committees are formed to provide inputs on different aspects of how to go about the planning. 

Meanwhile, after the Tokyo 2020 Games, where India finished with their best-ever tally (seven medals, including a gold in Athletics), India will aim to better this record when the next Summer Games (Paris 2024) get underway. 

(With inputs from PTI)