Boria Majumdar
James Hillier is Athletics Director of the Reliance Foundation. Under his tutelage, several Indian athletes, especially Jyothi Yarraji, have made quantum leaps and become real forces to be reckoned with at Asian level. In this exclusive interaction with Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief, Hillier talks of the mindset change and how he expects some athletics to make the finals of their events at Los Angeles 2028.
Boria: Fantastic performance by India in Korea at the Asian Athletics Championships (2025). It is truly undergoing a sprint revolution. How proud and happy are you?
Hillier: Yeah, I think as a nation, we did really well. I am really pleased that a lot of young athletes are coming in. The mentality of Indian athletes is changing, becoming more professional, Indian athletes coming overseas and genuinely believing they are better than their opposition. And the results are evident in 24 medals for the nation, and five for us as a foundation (Reliance Foundation). There is always some success and some failure in competitions, so overall I guess we will take it.
Boria: Your athletes… Jyothi Yarraji winning gold, first sub-13 [seconds] of the year. Animesh Kujur getting the second sprint medal for India in the history of the championship in 20.32. Can we see a sub-10 Indian in the next few years?
Hillier: The dream has already started, I think. A lot of years of hard work, and we’re starting now to see the fruits of our labour. We are really showing people that Indian sprinters can be successful at an international level, which I too did not believe at first.
Jyothi was wonderful in the hurdles, just showed class there, and Animesh is an athlete with so much confidence who finished the race, broke the
national record, got a bronze and was still hungry for changing the colour of the medal to gold. That is the mindset in India that is changing. The sprint program that I am running here with Reliance Foundation is instilling the same in the athletes, which is to never be satisfied and keep improving and that’s how it’s slowly coming together.
Boria: With athletes like Animesh, Amlan (Borgohain) and others, when you have four people doing a national record, even in the National Championship there is competition, and that kind of sets India apart. What are your thoughts on this?
Hillier: We’ve got to dominate at the Asian competitions and then the Commonwealth Games, and gradually shoot for the world. I do not want to be contented by a bronze at the Asian level. Japan, China and Saudi [Arabia] …countries have good sprinters and I am not just dreaming big here. I think we are getting to a level where we can actually compete with them at world level. Yes, the guys training together get competitive amongst themselves and want to beat each other and it is important to have that. The best sprinting nations like USA, Britain, it is difficult to tell who is going to win their national championship because there are so many good ones. I want the same for India.
Boria: Can you give me a ball park for dominance at Asian level? And your thoughts on corporates, the federation, synergy, support … everything coming together for Indian athletics?
Hillier: Answering the second question first, the synergy has never been better. With the private entities in the sport and the federation, it can be challenging because the federation is trying to govern the sport and trying to do something different, but the relationship now is fantastic. The federation is extremely ambitious and they are making it difficult for us to qualify which is good because it is driving the standards up. We all must be moving in the same direction for the good of the athletes. We have got to park all political, personal viewpoints and favoritisms aside for the good of the athletes.
And about the timeframe, it took us six years to get here. Asian level and world level are two very different ball games. Asian level is to blood young talents, but world level is where we need the experienced ones. I feel we could have won 30 medals instead of 24 if we had all the good talent with us at the Asian Championship. So, talking about the timeframe , I think I will be looking at LA28 as a realistic timeframe, and want the guys in the final. Another thing would be to work on chemistry between the incoming runner and the outgoing runner, which I feel is extremely important.
Follow Revsportz for the latest sports news
Catch the full interview here
🚨 #JamesHillier Exclusive
24-medals at the #AsianAthleticsChampionships2025 for India!
How does India’s coach in Korea and @RFYouthSports athletics director @JamesHillier78 describe India’s performance in Gumi?
India’s dream for an athletics revolution underway? How is the… pic.twitter.com/4KavfAS1mB
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) June 1, 2025