Sundeep Misra

Twenty-seven years ago, on July 7, 1999, El Guerrouj set his historic mile mark of 3:43.13 at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico. Understanding what Hicham represents to the soul of track and field is necessary to explain why Kerr’s heavily publicized record leaves such a lingering, complicated aftertaste. These pictures were clicked on the last day of the 2004 Athens Olympics. #joshkerr athleticsindia.com/josh-kerr…

There is more indignation over an IOA election result than over why Indian sports continue to crawl through Olympic corridors. It is a perplexing piece of human behaviour. Nobody seems to care why we consistently fall short of Olympic podiums. No urgent phone calls to the press from select sportspersons; no anguish over missing an 800m final since 1976; no chest-beating over track and field yields beyond Neeraj Chopra; no tears over a multi-decade Olympic gold drought in shooting since Abhinav Bindra’s 2008 triumph (even as sharp campaigns like Manu Bhaker’s multi-medal feat at Paris 2024 keep us on the board); no hard questions on why Olympic badminton gold eludes us, or why a field hockey Olympic gold has eluded us since 1980 (though back-to-back bronze finishes show resilience). Instead, we turn a blind eye to rampant doping sweeping through our national camps. We watch in silence as the boxing federation collapses under governance struggles. We ignore the systemic, sexist behaviour that drove our top wrestlers to the streets. And we stomach the endless, backroom power grabs within field hockey, a sport where administrative ego routinely outranks athlete welfare. Where are the representations to the IOC on structural underperformance? Where are the open letters to the government demanding world-class U-16 developmental coaches? Where is the accountability demanded from sports federations after every quadrennial failure? At Paris 2024, we finished 71st. A nation of 1.4 billion, trailing behind far smaller, resource-strapped countries. Uzbekistan ranked 13th overall with an impressive 8 golds, 2 silvers, and 3 bronzes (13 total medals) with a population of 37 million! Instead, as seen in the recent Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOM) election drama, marked by high-profile disputes, model code complaints, and accusations of fraudulent math and targeted block-voting, Indian sports elections routinely resemble political campaigns rather than corporate governance exercises. Tears, accusations of betrayal, and political manoeuvring ring out through Delhi’s smog. We remain a nation with lopsided priorities, obsessed only with elections. Administrative chairs send us into a tailspin, while on the pitch, track, and range, we keep a kilometre-long list of excuses. When our tears are shed for power rather than performance, it’s no wonder we remain off the top step. #ioaelections #SportsUpdate #sports

Terrific game. India win 4-1, in a match that Japan held tightly. First 1-0 for two quarters, then 1-1 into the 4th quarter, where India finally found their shooting boots to win the Asian Champions Trophy. Some matches have the quality to surprise. For almost 42 minutes, Japan kept Mohali on silence mode. Then came the equaliser, and India rolled away, tapping, dribbling, and showing deft moves with the instinct to kill off a game, alive and kicking. Yes, the tournament had India playing at half throttle yet winning big. But a full stadium got to witness a great game and that is what's important. Nilakanta Sharma played his last international match, and Hardik wove magic into a night the fans will long remember. #hockey #AsianChampionsTrophy

Its 4-1. Vivek Sagar Prasad whacks one in from the top of the circle. Four mins left.

The fans finally got what the tournament was missing: a fiercely competitive match. Heading into the 4th quarter, it’s Japan 1, India 1. It's a great setup. India are on the ascendancy, finding a quiet, subtle rhythm with their feet. Japan know they have to shackle Hardik, but they can't stop him. Hardik drives one deep into the center of the circle, and Dilpreet's quick back-swipe puts India ahead, 2–1. The stadium erupts.

2-1. India is making headway

Its 1-1. Shilanand Lakra gets it. #hockey #AsianChampionsTrophy

That first half had all the texture of a classic in the ring, punch to punch. Not exactly! India waiting to land one. Japan playing with that compact, low-block discipline, waiting to pounce on a single defensive lapse. That goal was a classic; hitting the absolute top corner on a line so tight it barely left room for air, let alone the keeper's glove. Hardik's milestone night is showing why he's the central character in this side. On his 200th cap, his ability to carry the ball through congested half-spaces, force defensive shifts is the main reason India keeps breaking into the final third. Sitting in a packed stadium for a script like this is unbeatable. Japan has drawn the line in the turf; now India is trying to unpick a lock under real pressure across 30 remaining minutes. Crowd roaring for an equalizer. #asianchampionstrophy #act #hockey

The pitch cannot become an assembly line of high-speed sprinters, the sport also needs a bit of breathing room for flair, individual expression, and on-the-spot brilliance to take root. Hockey cannot come pre-packaged. Some bit of it needs to be cooked on the pitch. #hockey #asianchampionstrophy

Mrutyam Jayaram Dondapati. 10.41. 20.97. PB. SB. Talent. Potential. Malay Barik. 48.23. Relay. Baton. It was a life lived in abbreviated forms. Timings dictated him. Everything revolved around a clock. Imagine an existence measured entirely by pace and speed, a single click on the stopwatch, and you wonder. So many of them, their entire universe built around a 400m synthetic track. Early mornings, gyms, nutrition, rest. Afternoon session. Speed session. Stopwatch. 50m. 60m. 150m. 200m. A life measured for both around the oval. One controlled by explosive bursts. The other, more deliberate, holding it over 400m. Maybe that’s why he was on the pillion. To be in control. There is an extreme pain for those who knew them. By tomorrow, they will be replaced on social media feed by those of us still alive, it doesn’t matter in what form. Being alive is what’s important. Is it? Death. Grief. Mortality. At The Kalinga, tears will fall. Their presence missed, for a few, intensely missed. But soon, it will be replaced by another set of spikes, another youngster governed by a stopwatch, a human’s worth calculated in seconds. One second more and you lose. A fraction of a second less, and you stand atop the podium. Dictated by time. Literally. Sport gives you panic, rage, anxiety, joy. Agony too. But this is different. An agony that arrives unannounced. It borders on unbearable pain, even if you didn’t know them personally. A life snuffed out is vastly different from one eased out of existence. Our reaction to sudden death is distinct. In life, we catalogue grief, classify it, forgetting that the air we all breathe is what they did. Now there is only hope, that the universe, which thrived on them cutting seconds off the clock, won’t hold back in caring for the ones left behind. In each home, and I will not go down the cliché of uncelebrated festivals -parents and siblings will live with the reality that they will never see them blossom. Youth. Bikes. Speed. It’s all part of it. The wind on your face. The same wind you chase on the track. That’s why you sprint, to feel that wind. The rev of the engine. It was all pure instinct. Yet in each home, dark with sorrow, they will sit for a long-time thinking: if only. #athleticsindia #athlete #athletic