New Delhi
India will host the World Athletics Continental Tour level event for the first time on August 10 next year. Athletics Federation of India (AFI) gave the above information. As per the AFI’s competitive calendar for the 2025 season, the bronze-level Continental Tour athletics event will be held in Bhubaneswar. This meet has been named ‘Indian Open’.
The Continental Tour is an annual series of track and field competitions, the second tier of global meetings after the elite-level Diamond League. It was launched in 2020 as the successor to the World Challenge Series and consists of four tiers, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Challenger.
According to Olympics.com, AFI President Adil Sumariwala said, the Continental Tour will be a good opportunity for the Indian team to showcase its potential on home soil before the World Championships to be held in September.
The World Athletics Championships 2025, to be held from September 13-21 in Tokyo, will be next year’s top athletics event. The last time India hosted such an international athletics event was in 2017, when the Asian Athletics Championships were held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. India also hosted the 2013 Asian Championships at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune.
The Senior National Federation Cup to be held in Haryana from April 21 to 24 will be a qualification event for the Asian Athletic Championships to be held in South Korea in May. India’s 2025 domestic athletics season will begin on January 12 with the National Cross-Country Championships in Uttar Pradesh, the National Inter-District Athletics Meet in February and the Indian Open throw and jump competitions to be held in March.
Sumariwala said, AFI has also started regional competitions from next year, so that marginalized athletes can get more opportunities. Regional competitions will begin in April.
