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Makeshift apparatus for sub-junior gymnasts
This was apparent when more than 400 budding gymnasts from 27 states found themselves without a floor to perform the floor exercises at the sub-junior national championships held in Jodhpur from December 25 to 29.
When will India see the next Dipa Karmakar? Not anytime soon, considering the dire state of grassroots infrastructure for gymnastics in the country, where even the basics are missing.
This was apparent when more than 400 budding gymnasts from 27 states found themselves without a floor to perform the floor exercises at the sub-junior national championships held in Jodhpur from December 25 to 29.
The competition space was laid out with old wrestling mats instead.
“It could have been better. The mat for floor exercise wasn’t up to standard. It was sort of a makeshift arrangement,” Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) president Sudhir Mittal said.
There were problems with the high bar as well, with coaches and tournament staff having to hold the bar in place with their hands even as competitors used the apparatus.
Competition director Nirbhay Singh, a former national level coach, says the base of the high bar wasn’t stable.
“The officials were holding as the base wasn’t good,” Singh said. “It was simply for safety purposes, that’s all.”
A national level coach who did not wish to be named said that the makeshift nature of equipment discourages youngsters from taking up gymnastics.
“If GFI wants to make the discipline popular, priority should be given to sub junior and junior group,” he said.
There is a dismal lack of infrastructure across the country, even at so called “elite” training centres. At the Sports Authority of India’s Aurangabad training centre, a hub for aspiring gymnasts, the apparatus is more than two decades old, and there is no foam landing pit. There’s no foam landing pit even at Mittal’s own backyard, at Punjab State Institute of Sports (PSIS) in Mohali.
Yet, that there was a sub-junior nationals held at all—for girls and boys across three age groups, U-10, U-12 and U-14—is something of an achievement. It was the first time since 2011 that the sub-juniors were held, a direct result of the GFI being derecognized after election malpractices back in 2012. It was only in November 2019—after seven long years of infighting—that the GFI was legitimized again, with Mittal, a retired IAS officer, as president.
“It was good beginning as the competition was being organised under GFI after a long gap of nine years,” Mittal said.
The sub-junior nationals was the first domestic meet held by the new federation, with the junior and senior nationals expected in January and February.
According to Mittal, who was also president of GFI from 2003 to 2007, the sports ministry has agreed to support the federation in building up infrastructure.
“After the senior nationals in February we will give a concrete plan to the government,” he said.
