Bahadur Singh Sagoo "thankful" for being elected as President of Athletics Federation of India

Earlier on Tuesday, Bahadur Singh Sagoo was elected as the new president of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

The Asian Games shot put medallist replaced the outgoing Adille Sumariwalla as the president of the Indian athletics federation. Sagoo was elected as the new president during the Annual General Assembly Meeting of the federation in Chandigarh.

With the arrival of Sagoo, Sumariwalla's stint as the AFI president, which lasted for more than a decade will conclude. The 67-year-old became the AFI president in 2012.

Speaking to ANI, Bahadur Singh Sagoo said that he is thankful to all the board members of the house for electing him unopposedly.

"I am thankful that my house elected me unopposed as the chief of the Athletics Federation of India. I am thankful to all the members of the house who came here from all over the country...This is the best federation. It works with transparency," Bahadur Singh Sagoo told ANI.

Sagoo is a one-time Asian medallist and two-time national champion. The 51-year-old won a gold medal in the 2002 Busan Asian Games in the shot put. He also competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. His best attempt of 20.40m came in 2004 in Koncha-Zaspa, Kyiv.

The new Athletics boss 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 AFI's 2025 season competitive calendar, as per Olympics.com. The meet is named as 'Indian Open'.

The Continental Tour is an annual series of track and field competitions, that comes under 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 and features four levels, gold, silver, bronze and challenger. (ANI)