There are 50 days to go for the second edition of the Trailblazers Conclave. And to think that India’s best athletes, able-bodied and para, men and women, will all come together under one roof in Kolkata in the Olympic and Paralympic year has a sense of the unreal attached to it. And yet, it is true. From Abhinav Bindra and Pullela Gopichand to Vishwanathan Anand, PR Sreejesh and Mahesh Bhupathi, the conclave will see a galaxy of Indian sporting legends at flag-off. And then, a very special session will help up the tempo. Saurav calling Sourav – Ghosal and Ganguly – will be the first meeting of these two icons of Indian sport. And may I say, this was a session planned over some nice Darjeeling tea at Ghosal’s house soon after he had made it back to Kolkata from the Asian Games.
Day two, March 8, is understandably about women and women’s empowerment. You name them, and we will have them in Kolkata. From Mary Kom, Rani Rampal and Anju Bobby George, to Nikhat Zareen and Savita Punia, it will be a stellar cast to start off day two. One of the sessions I am looking forward to the most is when young India comes together to shoot – Esha Singh, Sift Samra and Shriyanka Sadangi, all with Olympic quotas, coming together to speak about the sport with Abhinav Bindra.
We know that with Neeraj Chopra, Indian athletics has turned a corner. And long jump, understandably, is the next Javelin. With Murali Sreeshankar and Anju Bobby George, we will deep-dive into how the sport has gotten where it has, and what we need to do to have a breakthrough Paris Olympics.
Since it isn’t all about able-bodied sport, we will have the very best of Paralympic talent discussing what could be India best-ever Paralympics by a mile. From Sumit Antil, Krishna Nagar and Pramod Bhagat, to Yogesh Kathunia, Manasi Joshi and Suhas Yathiraj, we are determined to celebrate athletic achievement in its entirety.
For the football fans, there is a tete-a-tete with Igor Stimac, India’s head coach. With India due to play two World Cup qualifiers against Afghanistan soon after, the timing couldn’t be better.
Another session I am particularly keen on is the one on Indian chess. With three Indians making the candidates, it is but obvious that we will celebrate the sport. And no one better than the man who made it all possible – Anand. He will be joined by Dibyendu Barua and Tania Sachdev, and we will also have an exhibition of chess photos taken by the very talented Maria Emelianova.
Adding further flavour to the conclave will be Niccolo Campriani. Director of LA 28, Campriani will be doing a special session with Bindra, as they discuss their respective careers, the refugee project and OVEP. In sum, how both have used sport to leave a lasting impact on people’s lives.
We will also be celebrating the Odisha story, a tale of how a state stepped in at the last minute to stage a major event, and how its success turned into a springboard for future endeavours. It will talk about the sea change that has been witnessed in the past half-decade, with the creation of world-class stadia, high-performance centres and hostels to house the most talented kids from the relatively under-developed regions of the state. Odisha is a story of hope – of what can happen when a government prioritises its people and recognises the power of sport to bring about lasting and positive social change.
Finally, it is of serious importance to have administrators, policy-makers and corporates all in a dialogue with each other on the future of Indian sport. From Federation presidents like Adille Sumariwalla and Kalyan Chaubey to corporate leaders like Chanakya Chaudhary, Shyam Srinivasan, Sanjiv Navangul and Vignesh Shahane, the conclave will offer a forum for practitioners and policy-makers to exchange ideas and create a template for the future of Indian sport.
On day 1, March 7, the evening is all about a symphony between sport and music with Maestro Bickram Ghosh curating a special musical titled Sadhana.
Presented by Tata Steel and supported by brands like Thums up, Limca Sportz, Ageas Federal Life Insurance, Federal Bank, Wow Momo, Sangbad Pratidin, Aktivo Labs, HRX fashion, Ganges Jute, BSV and others, Trailblazers 2.0 is the go-to destination for every sports fan in India on March 7-8, 2024.
For those who can’t make it, the entire conclave will be live-streamed on RevSportz platforms, and every update will be made available on our social media handles.
More on the conclave in the days to come.