Mumbai: India’s track and field athletes, with the exception of two-time Olympic medallist and reigning world champion Neeraj Chopra, may still be finding their feet at the world level but the country is increasingly pushing to host major athletics events.

World Athletics (WA) president Sebastian Coe confirmed a bronze level Continental Tour event will come to India for the first time in 2025, as announced by Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Sunday. Bhubaneswar will host the meet next August. This comes a few weeks after Coe was handed a formal bid application for the 2028 U-20 World Championships during his visit to India.

“I’m delighted that there’s going to be a continental tour event in Bhubaneswar. I’ve been to the city during the Asian Championships (in 2017), and it’s a good sporting city. I’ve also received a letter of intent to stage the U-20 World Championships. That now sits with our bidding team alongside other bids,” Coe said in a virtual chat with select media on Monday.

“They (AFI) are sharing an ambition to stage more of our events. But that’s over to our evaluation panel and bidding teams to go through the checks, and make sure that all the right assets are in place in order to do that.”

The British double Olympic 1,500m champion said AFI has also conveyed to the world body its interest in hosting global relay and road events. There have been talks about India bidding to host the World Championships as well, although nothing concrete and official has come out of it so far.

“They have talked about (World) Relays, and World Road Championships. I think their focus is more on the track than it is on the road,” Coe said. “But look, we’re all one sport, so I’m delighted. And I never take lightly the ambition of our member nations to host a World Championships event.”

India has also expressed, formally now, its ambition to host the 2036 Olympics. Coe, who played an integral role in bringing and executing the 2012 London Olympics, is in the race to become the next International Olympic Committee (IOC) president.

“If any country has Olympic ambitions, and I know that India does, being able to demonstrate a track record of sporting delivery at international level can only be helpful. Evaluation teams need confidence that events which are going to be delivered at an Olympic level have at least been delivered at World Championships or global competitions level. That lends comfort. So that track record is important for any city that is wanting to present its credentials for delivering a very complex sporting event,” Coe said.

Coe outlined the “very important assets” India has as an athletics nation eager to host events — large, young population and sporting marketability. Infrastructure, though, is a significant part of it and, apart from a select few cities that have the wherewithal to potentially host major track and field events, there remains room for improvement there.

“Look, I know India well. It has infrastructure. But there is a recognition that some of that infrastructure will need upgrading,” Coe said. “I’m very careful here, especially being the president of the Olympic organising committee in London, in saying that I don’t think it’s for outsiders to tell countries how and where to spend money on infrastructure or legacy. That really does have to be set against domestic priorities.”

One of WA’s topmost priorities during major events is to fill seats inside stadiums. Coe singled out a filled-up stadium as the big expectation from Tokyo as it prepares to host next year’s World Championships. That aspect could be a challenge with athletics in India.

“Of course, we want full stadiums, that’s really important,” Coe said. “And that’s really down to the street smarts of local organisations. We can help, and we do. But starting in advance (ticketing), having a clear strategy, engaging schools and colleges, and making sure that there is a very high awareness that this is a championship that is important and probably the biggest thing that may come to town (is up to the organisers).”

India’s track and field athletes, with the exception of two-time Olympic medallist and reigning world champion Neeraj Chopra, may still be finding their feet at the world level but the country is increasingly pushing to host major athletics events.

World Athletics (WA) president Sebastian Coe confirmed a bronze level Continental Tour event will come to India for the first time in 2025, as announced by Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Sunday. Bhubaneswar will host the meet next August. This comes a few weeks after Coe was handed a formal bid application for the 2028 U-20 World Championships during his visit to India.

“I’m delighted that there’s going to be a continental tour event in Bhubaneswar. I’ve been to the city during the Asian Championships (in 2017), and it’s a good sporting city. I’ve also received a letter of intent to stage the U-20 World Championships. That now sits with our bidding team alongside other bids,” Coe said in a virtual chat with select media on Monday.

“They (AFI) are sharing an ambition to stage more of our events. But that’s over to our evaluation panel and bidding teams to go through the checks, and make sure that all the right assets are in place in order to do that.”

The British double Olympic 1,500m champion said AFI has also conveyed to the world body its interest in hosting global relay and road events. There have been talks about India bidding to host the World Championships as well, although nothing concrete and official has come out of it so far.

“They have talked about (World) Relays, and World Road Championships. I think their focus is more on the track than it is on the road,” Coe said. “But look, we’re all one sport, so I’m delighted. And I never take lightly the ambition of our member nations to host a World Championships event.”

India has also expressed, formally now, its ambition to host the 2036 Olympics. Coe, who played an integral role in bringing and executing the 2012 London Olympics, is in the race to become the next International Olympic Committee (IOC) president.

“If any country has Olympic ambitions, and I know that India does, being able to demonstrate a track record of sporting delivery at international level can only be helpful. Evaluation teams need confidence that events which are going to be delivered at an Olympic level have at least been delivered at World Championships or global competitions level. That lends comfort. So that track record is important for any city that is wanting to present its credentials for delivering a very complex sporting event,” Coe said.

Coe outlined the “very important assets” India has as an athletics nation eager to host events — large, young population and sporting marketability. Infrastructure, though, is a significant part of it and, apart from a select few cities that have the wherewithal to potentially host major track and field events, there remains room for improvement there.

“Look, I know India well. It has infrastructure. But there is a recognition that some of that infrastructure will need upgrading,” Coe said. “I’m very careful here, especially being the president of the Olympic organising committee in London, in saying that I don’t think it’s for outsiders to tell countries how and where to spend money on infrastructure or legacy. That really does have to be set against domestic priorities.”

One of WA’s topmost priorities during major events is to fill seats inside stadiums. Coe singled out a filled-up stadium as the big expectation from Tokyo as it prepares to host next year’s World Championships. That aspect could be a challenge with athletics in India.

“Of course, we want full stadiums, that’s really important,” Coe said. “And that’s really down to the street smarts of local organisations. We can help, and we do. But starting in advance (ticketing), having a clear strategy, engaging schools and colleges, and making sure that there is a very high awareness that this is a championship that is important and probably the biggest thing that may come to town (is up to the organisers).”