Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday that India will push to include Yogasana in the Olympic Games as the country prepares its bid to host the 2036 Olympics. His comments came ahead of the first World Yogasana Championship, which will be held in Ahmedabad from June 4 to 8.529 players from more than 60 countries will participate in the championship, including 114 Indian players. The Indian team was selected through trials and is currently training at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad.“Yogasan will join traditional sports at the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad… We are bidding to host the Olympic Games in 2036 and when that happens, our sport should be on the roster. Efforts are being made by both the Government of India and the National Federation (Yogasana Bharat) to ensure that yoga becomes an Olympic sport by then,” Mandaviya said at the launch of the championship.“To become an international federation you have to have 75 countries as signatories, after which a request can be made to the International Olympic Committee for the sport’s inclusion in the Olympics,” he added.World Yogasana vice-president Aditya Sheth said the federation wants Yogasana to be the first demonstration sport at the 2032 Olympics.“Our vision is to have it as a demonstration sport in the 2032 Olympics and then make it a medal event in 2036, whether the Games are in Ahmedabad or elsewhere,” he said.The tournament will feature 12 events across six age groups for men and women, from 10 years to 55 years.Teams from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will not participate in the event.World Yogasana Secretary General Jaideep Arya said that the number of participants could have been higher, but due to the military conflict in the Gulf region, some countries withdrew.“Three or four countries had to withdraw due to war but the overall participation is quite good. Nepal and Sri Lanka have the largest contingent after India but we have participation from countries like Netherlands, Oman, Japan, Kenya and Mauritius,” Arya told reporters.He explained that while yoga is generally seen as a fitness activity, yogasana is based on body postures that can be practiced competitively.“Yoga is a wellness technique but yogasana is a body posture that can be assessed. We have divided the competition into artistic and rhythmic and a points system will be enforced by nine judges around the playing field.”Athletes will be judged on factors such as alignment, coordination, facial orientation and muscle stability during the asanas.Sheth said the championship would not be televised live and would instead be used for a documentary project.“Yogasan has the potential to become India’s biggest sports contribution to the world and that is where we are going. This is more than a championship, it is the start of a global sports movement,” he said.
