Sports alarm bells: Toxic outdoors, no weather-proof indoors, IOC takes note, Pg1

Key Highlights:

• International badminton stars raised health concerns about Delhi's toxic air during the India Open, even complaining to the IOC.
• Athletes like Tejaswin Shankar are relocating to places like South Africa and the US to avoid Delhi's pollution and extreme heat.
• Training facilities like the Sports Authority of India's Sonepat centre are reporting that athletes are consistently falling ill due to poor air and water quality.
• The Cycling Federation of India has moved its national camp from Delhi to Guwahati in 2023 and then to Patiala in 2024 due to pollution.
• Dr. Randeep Guleria, former chief of AIIMS, suggests athletes need a base camp outside the Indo-Gangetic belt due to poor air quality.

Detailed Insights:

• India's push to host the 2036 Olympics faces challenges as toxic air and extreme heat disrupt athletes' training, reducing effective outdoor training windows to just a few months.
• High temperatures, reaching up to 50 degrees Celsius between June and August, far exceed the heat-stress threshold for many sports, impacting training and performance.
• Air Quality Index (AQI) levels in Delhi are so poor that athletes experience health issues like vomiting and prolonged coughing during training, with Delhi not recording a single clean air day in 2025.
• Coaches and athletes are advocating for indoor, temperature-controlled arenas, with suggestions for multi-sport indoor complexes to mitigate the impact of adverse weather conditions.
• Many of India’s premier sports institutions are located in regions with poor air quality, affecting both elite and grassroots athletes, potentially impacting the future talent pool.
• The Sports Ministry has planned a Rs 1,500-Rs 2,000 crore makeover of the NIS and establishing an Olympic Training Center for each sport.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Air Quality Index (AQI): A measure of air quality based on pollutants like particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide.
• Heat-stress threshold: The maximum temperature at which athletes can safely perform physical activities without risking heat-related illnesses.
• Indo-Gangetic Plain: A large and fertile plain encompassing most of northern and eastern India, known for its high levels of air pollution.