There can be no better day than Diwali/Kali puja to make this announcement. I am delighted to say that Tata Steel and RevSportz will continue to be partners going forward, and the 2025 edition of the Trailblazers Conclave, presented by Tata Steel, will now be a two-and-a-half-day affair between March 6-8, 2025.
One of the fundamental pillars of this collaboration has been our emphasis on multi-sport coverage. To support Indian Olympic and Paralympic sport and tell the stories which will inspire the coming generations. Cover events on ground, and create forums for dialogue between all stakeholders of sport, including athletes, policy makers and administrators.
At the conclave, which is by far India’s biggest and best sports forum, we have had athletes from across the spectrum come and talk to us. Also, it is a forum where athletes and policy makers talk to each other, something that is hardly seen in the ecosystem. Take the case of Manu Bhaker. She was at a low ebb in 2023 when we invited her. At RevSportz, we have always stood by athletes when they need it more, and I remember Manu asking Abhinav Bindra a question on how to deal with adversity. Now, Manu is a double Olympic medallist and the narrative is different. But, in 2023, it was fascinating to hear Abhinav speak to her about dealing with challenges and not getting overawed.
Our two other key areas of interest are women’s empowerment and paralympic sport. In para sport, India has turned a new leaf by winning 29 medals in Paris, and the chances are that we could make it to the top 10 in the medal table at Los Angeles 2028. The important thing is to make sure that the momentum is sustained. That we don’t forget our para athletes, and wake up only two years from now, ahead of the Asian Para Games in Japan.
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To do so, we have decided to invite a number of our champions to the conclave, and also possible stars of the future, to interact with each other and tell us their stories of adversity and triumph. Each of these athletes has a story full of life lessons that we all stand to learn a lot from. A number of India’s leading Paralympic athletes and medallists like Sumit Antil, Harvinder Singh, Navdeep Singh, Yogesh Kathunia, Nishad Kumar and Manasi Joshi have already confirmed their participation.
As it happens, 2025 marks the 75th anniversary of International Women’s Day, and it is only fitting that we celebrate women’s empowerment on March 8, 2025. Paris was the first gender-equal games and it is time every other sports event takes strides towards becoming so.
The support from Tata Steel will help us make the conclave even bigger, and further help us in making a tangible difference to the Indian sports ecosystem. In fact, I still remember my first interaction with Mr TV Narendran, MD, Tata Steel, three years ago. I was on the verge of setting up RevSportz (we complete three years on December 1), and had reached out to him for support. His first question was whether I was keen on supporting Indian Olympic and Paralympic sport.
Since then, the partnership has only grown stronger, and the work done speaks for itself. Here is to more stories and more meaningful work.
A sincere thank you to Mr Narendran, Mr Chanakya Chaudhary, Mr Sarvesh Kumar and everyone at Tata Steel for the support.
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