- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA may not be among the top performing nations at the Olympic Games but the country may have already earned a reputation for the upcoming edition of the quadrennial sports show in Tokyo, Japan.
Equipment manufactured by Indian companies will be visible across the board during the field events of the Olympics Games at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium.
Out of six companies listed by World Athletics, the sport’s governing body, to provide implements for disciplines like shot put, discuss and hammer throw, three are based in India and they are Anand Track and Field Equipment (ATE), Bhalla International and Nelco.
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These companies will give shot put (7.26 kilograms), discus (2 kg) and hammer (7.26 kg) during the games, which will start on July 23. These implements are put in a holding rack at the competition site for the participants to choose from. This certainly encourages those who have been vocally supporting Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ vision.
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“We are providing six implements each in shot put, discus throw and hammer throw. So, for men and women’s events together, we are providing 36 implements during the Tokyo Olympics,” ATE’s Adarsh Anand told PTI.
“Our implements have been in use in the Olympics since 1992 Barcelona Games till now. In fact, our journey with athletics started in Tokyo during the 1991 World Championships,” he added.
The company has a registered office in Meerut in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and also a factory in New Delhi.
Bhalla International, also based in Meerut, is providing 36 implements, six each for the men’s and women’s shot put, discus throw and hammer throw.
“Our brand got the award for high quality products during the 2016 Rio Olympics. It is a proud privilege for our company and also for the country to have a presence in the Olympics,” company representative Ashutosh Bhalla said.
At least three Indian participants in the Tokyo Olympics are set to use home-made brands. “Tajinder Singh Toor and Kamalpreet Kaur will use our shot put and discus. Also, I am expecting competitors of other countries to use our implements,” Anand said.
“Over the years, athletes of more than 40 countries — from Europe and the USA — have been using our implements in various top-level competitions all over the world,” he added.
Veteran discus-thrower Seema Punia will be using implements made by Bhalla International, which is one of the biggest sports goods equipment exporters in the country. “Seema Punia is using our discus and I am expecting some other competitors also,” Bhalla said.
However, the implements are not provided to the organising committee in lieu of money. “It is a kind of advertisement. Our products are seen at the biggest sporting event in the world and athletes will come to know about our brand and our quality and they can try out in future,” said Bhalla. A good quality shot put, discus or hammer is priced anywhere between Rs 6,000 ($80) to Rs 10,000 ($134).
