'Don’t count medals, look at progression based on data': AFI president Sumariwalla

Panelists for SJAM’s Olympic discussion (left to right) former badminton star Leroy D’sa, ex-India tennis player Purav Raja, India’s rifle shooting coach Suma Shirur, AFI President Adille Sumariwalla and former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha at the Bombay Gymkhana yesterday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Whenever an Asian Games, Commonwealth Games or an Olympics comes up, the most common question on every Indian sports fan's lips is, ‘how many medals will
we win?'

However, Athletics Federation of India (AFI) President Adille Sumariwalla believes it's incorrect to try to predict the number of medals because there are numerous conditions that apply. "I believe the Indian contingent will do better [in Paris] than what they did at the last few Olympics. When I say better, I never talk in terms of medals. I'm not an astrologer and can't predict medals. You see data. You need to follow a process," Sumariwalla said during a panel discussion on the upcoming Paris Olympics organised by the Sports Journalists' Association of Mumbai (SJAM) during their Lifetime Achievement Awards function on World Sports Journalists' Day at Bombay Gymkhana on Tuesday.

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The data that Sumariwalla is referring to is the sheer growth in the number of medals India's athletes have won in multi-disciplinary competitions over the years. For example, at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games Team India bagged its best-ever medal haul of 107. From this, the athletics contingent picked up their best haul of 29 medals. Four years earlier, the Indian athletics team won 20 medals at Jakarta 2018. Prior to that, it was 13 at Incheon 2014 and 12 at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

"This is why I insist on looking at progression, based on data," added Sumariwalla, who went on to explain how the Olympic gold medal achievements of ace marksman Abhinav Bindra (Beijing 2008) and javelin superstar Neeraj Chopra (Tokyo 2020) have helped inspire this progression. "When Abhinav won the gold, it was inspirational, but our athletes felt that it was shooting, so they didn't identify much with the discipline. But when someone like Neeraj, who didn't exactly hail from an urban area, won India's first track and field Olympic gold, all our athletes identified with him and they now believe that they can win an Olympic medal too. So, he has changed the mindset and psyche of our athletes," concluded Sumariwalla.