Bahadur Singh SagooBahadur Singh Sagoo was elected as the new president of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Tuesday. The Asian Games shot put medallist succeeded Adille Sumariwalla, the outgoing president, during the Annual General Assembly Meeting of the federation in Chandigarh.
With Sagoo’s arrival, Sumariwalla’s tenure as AFI president, which lasted more than a decade, comes to an end. The 67-year-old had been serving as the AFI president since 2012.
Sagoo, a one-time Asian medallist and two-time national champion, won a gold medal in the shot put at the 2002 Busan Asian Games. He also competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. His best attempt of 20.40m came in 2004 in Koncha-Zaspa, Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Sandeep Mehta, who previously held the position of senior joint secretary, was elected as the secretary of the body during the AGM.
Under Sumariwalla’s leadership, India reached new heights in athletics, with Neeraj Chopra standing out among the athletes. Chopra won back-to-back Olympic medals in javelin throw— a historic gold at the Tokyo Olympics and a silver at the Paris Olympics.
The new athletics chief will have his hands full, with India set to host the World Athletics Continental Tour level event for the first time on August 10.
The bronze-level Continental Tour athletics event will take place in Bhubaneswar, according to the AFI’s 2025 season competitive calendar, as per Olympics.com. The event, named the “Indian Open,” is part of the annual Continental Tour series. This series includes four levels: gold, silver, bronze, and challenger, and is considered the second tier of global meetings after the elite-level Diamond League. It was launched in 2020 as a successor to the World Challenge Series.