The Athletics Federation of India is the national governing body for the

sport of athletics Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping and throwing. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, cross-country running, and racewalking. ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and is responsible for conducting competitions in the country. It was formed in 1943. It is affiliated to

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

and

Asian Athletics Association The Asian Athletics Association is the continental governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in Asia. It is headquartered in Thailand. It organises the Asian Championships in Athletics and other continental competitions. The ...

. Anju Bobby George is the vice president. It was formerly called the Amateur Athletic Federation of India.

History

Athletics Federation of India, then Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI), was formed in 1946 at the initiative of Prof. G.D. Sondhi and Maharaja Yadvindra Singh. G.D. Sondhi was its first President for a short while, resigning on 13 April 1950. AFI organises the following national level athletics competitions in the country: * Indian National Open Athletics Championships * Indian National Inter-State Senior Athletics championships * National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Competition * Indian Open Reacewalking competition * Indian Open Javelin throw competition * National Federation Cup under-20 Athletics championships * National Javelin Throw Competition * North Zone Junior Athletics championship * Indian open 400m competition * South zone junior Athletics championship * West zone junior Athletics championship * East zone junior Athletics championship * National youth Athletics championship * National open athletics championship * Indian open Under 23 Athletics competition * National junior Athletics championship * National Inter-district junior Athletics meet. * Source -

Coaches

British James Hillier is the sprint and hurdles coach. Jamaican Jason Dawson is the men's 400m relay coach since Russian Galina Bukharina left. Jamaican Jerry Lee Holness is the women's 400m relay coach. Sergey Makarov is the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

coach. Uwe Hohn and Klaus Bartonietz have previously coached javelin throwers.

Controversies

AFI has been under pressure for the last several years due to doping scandals. The entire women's relay that won gold in the 2010 Commonwealth Games were tested positive for anabolic steroid. The governing body's selection process for international teams have received public criticism. PU Chitra, Ajay Kumar Saroj and Sudha Singh were excluded from the

2017 World Championships in Athletics The 2017 IAAF World Championships, the sixteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 4 to 13 August at London Stadium in London, United Kingdom. London was officially awarded the championships on 11 November 2011. Bidding p ...

despite being eligible for entry by the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, coverin ...

(the global governing body). Chitra lodged an appeal to the Kerala High Court in July 2017, though she was ultimately excluded as the court's request for inclusion was beyond the selection cut-off date. Commentator KP Mohan believed the right decision had been made to not include Chitra and several other Asian champions, given their low international ranking at that time, though he stated the controversy could have been avoided if the AFI had made its selection criteria clear before the start of the athletics season.Mohan, KP (2017-07-31)
Utter mess: India’s athletics body took the right call with PU Chitra but handled it poorly
Scroll. Retrieved 2020-03-03.

Footnotes

References

External links

*
Competition Manual
in PDF) {{National Members of the International Association of Athletics Federations Athletics in India Sports governing bodies in India National members of the Asian Athletics Association Sports organizations established in 1946 1946 establishments in India