India makes bid to host World U-20 Athletics provided that Peru withdraws

The national federation president Adille Sumariwalla on Saturday asserted that India is prepared tohost the 2024 World U20 Athletics Championships in Bhopal in case Peru pulls out from organising the junior showpiece event which is allotted to the South American country It is however not yet certain if Indias bid will materialise as World Athletics has recently told Sumariwalla that Peru may still come back to host the event in LimaPeru originally backed out so World Athletics put out a bid which we applied for But I had a World Athletics meeting two days back and WA told me that Peru has said they might come back as host So I am not sure what is going to happen The situation is little fluid as of now Sumariwalla told reporters at the sidelines of the National InterState Athletics ChampionshipsWe will know on August 1213 during the meeting of the World Athletics Council of which he himself is also a member which will take a decision whether Peru will still be the host or other countries can bid for itIf Peru agrees to host the junior championships World Athletics will go ahead with that Then we have to pull back the bid he addedAlso Read Neeraj Chopra to compete in Lausanne leg of Diamond League assure organisersIndia will not be the lone bidder even in case of Peru losing the junior championships as four or five other countries have also expressed interest he saidPeru was allotted the 2024 World Junior Championships in December 2021 but in April this year it expressed its inability to host the event due to political instability social unrest and natural disastersWe are looking at Bhopal at the moment if we are to host the championship Bhopal is putting up a brand new infrastructure at the same place they held the Shooting World Cup They are having a fullfledged synthetic track a warmup track besides football and hockey fields Foundation has already been laid work is in full swing We hope the facilities will be ready if India is to host the world junior championships he saidAsked if India can bid for other editions of the biennial championships in case Peru gets back the hosting right for the 2024 tournament Sumariwalla said I think a host country is already there for the 2026 championships we can think of 2028 but we will take a decision when the time for bidding comesSumariwalla also said that the Athletics Federation of India will appoint a High Performance Director from abroad for the junior and youth teamsWe have advertised for the post and have shortlisted two candidates from Germany and another country We have to close in and finalise that he saidHe also announced that sprint coach N Ramesh will henceforth be the national junior team coach Ramesh who has been the coach of Dutee Chand had gone to Korea as coach at the recent Asian Junior ChampionshipsThe ongoing National InterState Championships the final selection trial for the upcoming Asian Games was earlier to be held mid July but had to be advanced by one month after the Olympic Council of Asia made a new rule that all the member countries should send their teams 75 days prior to competitionsIt is ridiculous we have to send entries 75 days before never heard of Normally the last date of sending entries is 15 days before the competitionAsked if those athletes who have breached the Asian Games qualifying marks in events before the ongoing championship will be considered for selection in the Indian team Sumariwalla said I cant say anything It is up to the selection committee to decide The committee will decide the teamSumariwalla also said the AFI has selected around 1000 kids from around 6000 from the recent National InterDistrict Junior Athletics Meet held in Patna to groom them for the future under the High Performance Director for junior and youth who will devise a programmeWe have selected around 1000 such kids U14 and U16 and they will undergo a series of tests in six venues to find out for which events they can be groomed as future elite athletes We can prune them down after these tests or we may select all of them if they are talentedThe number of these kids will be increased next year as more youngsters will be added from NIDJAM next yearHe said Rural Electrification Corporation REC Limited has agreed to support financially in the testing of the kidsOur experts will test the mental aptitude of the kids towards athletics their physical fitness mental fitness etc They will be provided with recreational facilities also as well as education at various Sports Authority of India Training Centres said Indian athletics head coach Radhakrishnan NairWe have been contacting these 962 kids on phone and through mail but around 500plus that is about 60 per cent have responded and confirmed their participation for these testsSumariwalla also said that the AFI is desperately looking for two foreign javelin coaches but most of them do not want to stay in India for a long termThey the foreign coaches want us to send the javelin throwers to their country that is the issueWith PTI inputs