Athletics Federation of India

Athletics Federation of India
Sport	Athletics
Jurisdiction	India
Abbreviation	AFI
Founded	1946; 79 years ago
Affiliation	World Athletics
Regional affiliation	Asian Athletics Association
Headquarters	New Delhi, India
President	Bahadur Singh Sagoo
Vice president(s)	Anju Bobby George Jayanta Malla Baruah
Secretary	Sandeep Mehta
Coach	James Hillier; Sergey Makarov; Jason Dawson; Jerry Lee Holness;
Official website
	indianathletics.in

The Athletics Federation of India is the national governing body for Athletics sport in India, and is responsible for conducting competitions in the country. It was formed in 1943.^[1] It is affiliated to World Athletics and Asian Athletics Association.^[2] Anju Bobby George is the vice president. It was formerly called Amateur Athletic Federation of India.

History

Athletics Federation of India, then Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI), was formed in 1946 at the initiative of Prof. G.D. Sondhi and Maharaja Yadvindra Singh. G.D. Sondhi was its first President for a short while, resigning on 13 April 1950.

AFI organises the following national level athletics competitions in the country:

Indian National Open Athletics Championships
Indian National Inter-State Senior Athletics championships
National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Competition
Indian Open Reacewalking competition
Indian Open Javelin throw competition
National Federation Cup under-20 Athletics championships
National Javelin Throw Competition ^{[note 1]}
North Zone Junior Athletics championship
Indian open 400m competition
South zone junior Athletics championship
West zone junior Athletics championship
East zone junior Athletics championship
National youth Athletics championship
National open athletics championship
Indian open Under 23 Athletics competition
National junior Athletics championship
National Inter-district junior Athletics meet.
Source - ^[4]

Coaches

British James Hillier is the sprint and hurdles coach.^[5] Jamaican Jason Dawson is the men's 400m relay coach since Russian Galina Bukharina left.^[6] Jamaican Jerry Lee Holness is the women's 400m relay coach. Sergey Makarov is the javelin throw coach.^[7] Uwe Hohn and Klaus Bartonietz have previously coached javelin throwers.^[8]

Controversies

AFI has been under pressure for the last several years due to doping scandals. The entire 4 × 400 m women's relay that won gold in the 2010 Commonwealth Games were tested positive for anabolic steroid.

The governing body's selection process for international teams have received public criticism. PU Chitra, Ajay Kumar Saroj and Sudha Singh were excluded from the 2017 World Championships in Athletics despite being eligible for entry by the International Association of Athletics Federations (the global governing body). Chitra lodged an appeal to the Kerala High Court in July 2017, though she was ultimately excluded as the court's request for inclusion was beyond the selection cut-off date. Commentator KP Mohan believed the right decision had been made to not include Chitra and several other Asian champions, given their low international ranking at that time, though he stated the controversy could have been avoided if the AFI had made its selection criteria clear before the start of the athletics season.^[9]

Footnotes

^ This competition was founded, announced by AFI in 2021. It is scheduled to host on 7 August 2022, to commemorate India's first Olympic gold medal in Javelin throw by Neeraj Chopra^[3]

References

^ About Us Archived 22 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Indian Athletics. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
^ Association, Asian Athletics. "Asian Athletics Association | Promoting Athletic Excellence in Asia". www.asianathletics.com. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
^ Venkat, Rahul (8 May 2022). "Indian athletics calendar 2022: Season to start February 26". Olympics.com. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
^ "Indian athletics calendar 2022: Full schedule". www.olympics.com. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
^ "James Hillier's journey: From working as property surveyor to coaching India's fastest woman hurdler Jyothi Yarraji and fastest man Amlan Borgohain". The Indian Express. 22 August 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
^ "Behind relay team's memorable run: New-found belief, taskmaster coach". The Indian Express. 23 October 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
^ Selvaraj, Jonathan (1 October 2024). "AFI shortlists former World Champion Makarov as India's new javelin throw coach, awaits SAI approval". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
^ "India's German javelin coach Uwe Hohn slams Olympics preparation". The Indian Express. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
^ Mohan, KP (2017-07-31). Utter mess: India’s athletics body took the right call with PU Chitra but handled it poorly. Scroll. Retrieved 2020-03-03.

External links

[O-4] This competition was founded, announced by AFI in 2021. It is scheduled to host on 7 August 2022, to commemorate India's first Olympic gold medal in Javelin throw by Neeraj Chopra^[3]

[1] About Us Archived 22 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Indian Athletics. Retrieved 2019-06-29.

[2] Association, Asian Athletics. "Asian Athletics Association | Promoting Athletic Excellence in Asia". www.asianathletics.com. Retrieved 3 January 2025.

[O-3] Venkat, Rahul (8 May 2022). "Indian athletics calendar 2022: Season to start February 26". Olympics.com. Retrieved 14 April 2023.

[5] "Indian athletics calendar 2022: Full schedule". www.olympics.com. Retrieved 28 October 2022.

[6] "James Hillier's journey: From working as property surveyor to coaching India's fastest woman hurdler Jyothi Yarraji and fastest man Amlan Borgohain". The Indian Express. 22 August 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2025.

[7] "Behind relay team's memorable run: New-found belief, taskmaster coach". The Indian Express. 23 October 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2025.

[8] Selvaraj, Jonathan (1 October 2024). "AFI shortlists former World Champion Makarov as India's new javelin throw coach, awaits SAI approval". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 3 January 2025.

[9] "India's German javelin coach Uwe Hohn slams Olympics preparation". The Indian Express. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2025.

[10] Mohan, KP (2017-07-31). Utter mess: India’s athletics body took the right call with PU Chitra but handled it poorly. Scroll. Retrieved 2020-03-03.

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