Future of Indian Athletics: A Candid Conversation with Dr. Adille J. Sumariwalla | House of Glory Ep. 27
House of Glory – The Sports Podcast | Powered by Nikon India
What does it take to build a sporting nation from scratch? How do you break a decades-old myth that Indians are not built for athletics? And what happens when passion collides with bureaucracy, doping, and age fraud?
In Episode 27 of House of Glory The Sports Podcast, host Tushal Dutt sat down with one of Indian athletics’ most formidable figures — Dr. Adille J. Sumariwalla — Olympian, entrepreneur, and President of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). The conversation was raw, honest, and packed with insights that every Indian sports fan needs to hear.
From the Starting Blocks to the Boardroom
Dr. Sumariwalla’s journey is unlike any other in Indian sport. He represented India in the 100m sprint at the 1980 Moscow Olympics — a time when Indian sprinters trained on mud tracks, had no proper spikes, and knew nothing about running on synthetic surfaces. He recalls racing in Mexico City in the rain, cold water dripping down his neck at the starting blocks, completely unprepared for the conditions that the world’s best athletes trained in every single day.
But instead of bitterness, he carries pride. “I have no regrets,” he says simply. “It was just passion and madness in those days.”
When his coaching career took off — including producing an Asian gold medallist — he began noticing everything that was broken in Indian athletics administration. His friends at weekend gatherings grew tired of his complaints and gave him an ultimatum: “Either shut up or go and do something about it.”
He chose to do something about it. And after the administrative debacle following the Commonwealth Games, he was pushed into the AFI to help save the situation. As he puts it: “Everything else is history.”
Can Indians Compete in Athletics? Neeraj Chopra Answered That
For decades, Indian athletics carried the weight of a damaging myth — that Indians are not genetically strong enough to win Olympic medals in track and field. Dr. Sumariwalla didn’t completely dismiss this view, acknowledging there was “some truth to it” in a physiological context. But he was clear that Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal at Tokyo 2020 changed everything.
“Other athletes have started believing that we are the same flesh, blood — we stay together, we eat together. If Neeraj can win, we can win.”
That shift in collective belief, he argues, is worth more than any single medal. It is the psychological foundation on which India’s athletic future will be built.
The Rise of Avinash Sable and Parul Chaudhary
The episode gave special attention to two athletes who are quietly rewriting the record books — Avinash Sable in the steeplechase and Parul Chaudhary in long-distance running. Dr. Sumariwalla spoke about both with visible pride, acknowledging that the AFI’s long-term investment in endurance athletes is beginning to bear fruit on the world stage.
Their rise is not accidental. It is the result of years of structural investment, international exposure, and the kind of elite training pipeline that simply didn’t exist for earlier generations of Indian athletes.
Neeraj Chopra — The Gold Standard of a Champion
Asked about Neeraj, Dr. Sumariwalla’s tone shifted into something close to reverence. Beyond the gold medal and the world-class technique, he described what makes Neeraj truly special — his character.
“After the Neeraj Classic, at 1:30 at night, after he had finished his event, he was sitting and signing autographs for kids and taking pictures with them. That’s the boy he is.”
Disciplined. Humble. A champion on and off the field. Dr. Sumariwalla made it clear that Neeraj’s success is not just about throwing a javelin further — it’s about showing the next generation what it means to carry the Indian flag with dignity.
The Dark Side: Doping in Indian Athletics
This was perhaps the most unflinching part of the conversation. Dr. Sumariwalla identified three major problems plaguing Indian athletics: doping, overage athletes, and early specialisation.
On doping, he was blunt to the point of being provocative. The popular defence that “athletes are not aware” of banned substances? He called it “total, total nonsense.” The AFI runs seminars at every level, distributes thousands of booklets, and educates coaches and athletes consistently. Awareness is not the problem — willingness is.
What concerns him more is the industrial scale of the problem. He described a growing network of coaches and centres — particularly in regions like Sonipat and Panipat — that have turned doping into a full-fledged business. Athletes come, train specifically for the tests that will be conducted, and are given banned substances accordingly. The federation knows where these centres are. But without the power to arrest or prosecute, they can only point law enforcement in the right direction.
His solution? Criminalise doping. “If you arrest five or ten of them, the rest will cool down. Put coaches behind bars. Then only will people stop.”
Age Fraud: A Problem With Many Layers
Age fraud, Dr. Sumariwalla explained, is not a simple problem. In earlier decades, many athletes genuinely didn’t know their birth dates — he recalled visiting a school where every student in a class had the same birthday on record: 1st June, because no one remembered the actual dates and that’s what got written down.
But today, the fraud is deliberate. Manipulated documents, impersonation, multiple Aadhaar cards — athletes have even changed their fathers’ names to create new identities after being caught. The AFI has responded with biometric registration for over 100,000 athletes, QR codes on bib numbers, and UID verification. They have filed FIRs. But when someone can get four Aadhaar cards made and run under a different identity in a different state, the problem demands a law enforcement response that goes well beyond what a sports federation can provide.
The motivation, he says, is simple: money and jobs. A junior medal opens doors to government employment in the army, railways, and police services. The incentive is too high and the deterrent too low.
The Future: India’s Athletics Is Just Getting Started
The numbers tell a powerful story. In the Asian Games, India’s athletics medal tally has grown from 13 to 18 to 29. In the Commonwealth Games, from 3 medals to 8. At the Olympics, from zero to two — including a historic gold and silver in track and field.
Dr. Sumariwalla is clear: this is not a coincidence. It is the result of a decade of structural investment. “What we’ve worked for the last 10 years is now paying dividends.”
And if India hosts the 2036 Olympics? He is confident India will win more athletics medals than ever before. He declined to give a specific number — but the confidence in his voice left little doubt.
Final Thought
This episode of House of Glory was more than a podcast — it was a masterclass in what it means to love a sport enough to fight for it. Dr. Adille Sumariwalla has been an athlete, a coach, a corporate leader, and a federation president. And through every role, the mission has stayed the same: to make India a nation where athletics is not an afterthought, but a source of pride.
The future of Indian athletics is not a dream. According to the man who has spent decades building it — it is already underway.
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