Boria Majumdar
Adille Sumariwalla, Vice-president of the World Athletics, was India’s champion sprinter for many years, representing the country at the Moscow Olympics in 1980. Now, a new generation of sprinters is rewriting India’s athletics narrative and track-and-field events are no longer just about Neeraj Chopra. After a 24-medal haul at the Asian Athletics Championships in South Korea, Sumariwalla spoke exclusively to Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief.
Boria: 24 medals, coming second. Your first thoughts?
Adille Sumariwalla: Thank you for having me on the show and the kind introduction. I think our athletes have done well. The way I had looked at these championships is like a stepping stone towards 2028 [Olympics in Los Angeles] and the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games to come up next year – for everyone, including the big boys like Sable (Avinash Sable) and Gulveer (Singh), who are in contention, who can make the finals of the World Championships to be held in Tokyo later this year.I thought they could get about 28 to 30 medals instead of 24.
Boria: I see the Tokyo World Championship, the number of people who have qualified gives me gives me hope.
Adille: See, I look at it in two separate ways. One is that lots of people are qualifying and that’s good because you need bench strength. Javelin, we’re doing well, because we have the bench strength. After bench strength, second is being in the top half of the bench strength. My next aim is to set a rule saying that we don’t accept world ranking qualifier. A lot of countries do it, that only if you are in the top 15 or the top 10, we will let you participate in the Olympic Games or World Championship.
Boria: Clearly, there is a sprint revolution also underway. You were a sprinter yourself. Tell me about it?
Adille: For a longest time, we had had a problem that we didn’t have sprinters of this level, physique. But having said that, they refused to come and train together, reason being dope control. We don’t have a 10-second and below-10-second sprinter. They will be there one someday. But till that happens, it is only the baton exchange. And that will only happen when the team sleeps, trains, eats, practices together. For example, you saw that Vithya (Ramaraj) got a bronze medal in the 400 metres hurdles. She was the second fastest. She didn’t run the 4×400 relay because she was not training with the campers. One can bring their coach and join the camp. We have no problem. We will fund the coach also. So, Kiran [Pahal] has come with her coach. We have no problem with that. But you need to be together and train together when baton exchange happens.
Boria: There was a controversy about Pooja (Singh) regarding her torn spikes. Do you have to say anything about that?
Adille: There was no story. And there was no controversy. It was the way it was reported.
Did her spikes tear when she was training there? Yes, it did. Did she have another pair of spikes? Yes, she did. Did she want her other pair? No. She felt that speed-wise, the old pair she was more comfortable with. Did we go out into the market to look for it? Yes, of course we did, but these are no regular spikes to be found easily and might have to be pre-ordered normally. Even if she got a new pair, would she have used it? No. Because you must break into your spikes. So, there was no story to start with. It’s just that people want to grab eyeballs. It is fine with me. It is okay. I do not have a problem. We do a lot of things for the athletes. Five to 10 per cent may go wrong. But please report the good things as well along with the negatives.
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Boria: Do you think this whole sub-10 thing is possible in the next few years with so much of talent?
Adille: It is possible. Not only this talent, I can see more talent coming up. For the first time, I’m seeing six-foot sprinters. Kunjur (Avinash) himself, according to me, if his stats improve, he can be touching close to 10 seconds.
Boria: One year left, Commonwealth and Asian Games. Your thoughts?
Adille: Again, the aim is ’28. We are no more looking at Asian and Commonwealth. These are overall a good testing ground. But I think we will continue to build up to ’28 because my vision is no more Asian. My vision has now moved to world levels – Olympic Games, World Championships.
Boria: Are you telling me that in ’28, there could be a second realistic medal prospect?
Adille: (Laughs) I’m not saying anything. Wait and watch.
Boria: But are you cautiously optimistic about it?
Adille: Absolutely. That’s all I’m going to say. I’m not going to say more.
Boria: Neeraj Chopra coming back, doing the 90. Your thoughts on that?
Adille: Javelin is a very dicey event because of wind conditions. You can have – within one event, one meet – two to three to four-metre differences in your throwing. See, the reason why Neeraj is so consistent is because he has perfected the technique. The speed at which you come in and the release is the most important thing. His biomechanics coach has managed to perfect his technique.
And the important thing in javelin is to be consistent.
Boria: Neeraj Chopra, in the next three years, if he’s injury-free, he can last for sure? We can start dreaming through his eyes again?
Adille: Yeah, of course.
He still has a long way to go. Now that the 90-block is over, he’s free. He doesn’t have to prove anything. He’s still good for LA. I’ll finish there. But the best part about this interview is that it’s no longer about the Asian Games. It’s not the Asian Championship, not the Commonwealth. But the goal now is the Worlds and the Olympic Games. That’s my takeaway.
Boria: You did not answer my question whether we will bank on a second medal at the Olympic Games.
Adille: (Laughs) I won’t even give you that answer one day before the Olympic Games, you know that. I will never give you. See, I strongly believe in the preparation. If your preparation is great, medals will happen.
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Check out the full interview here
🚨 #AdilleSumariwalla Exclusive
“The aim is 2028. We’re no more looking at the Commonwealth & Asian level” — @WorldAthletics vice-president, @Adille1 on India’s athletics future.
✅ #PoojaSingh‘s spike controversy in Gumi.
✅ Sub-10 a possibility now? And more.… pic.twitter.com/dw8eRiv0K3
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) June 6, 2025