Chandigarh, Jan 7: Former shot putter Bahadur Singh Sagoo, a gold medalist at the Asian Games, has been elected unopposed as the new president of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), taking over from long-serving president Adille Sumariwalla.
The 51-year-old Sagoo, who will serve a four-year term, clinched a shot put gold medal in the 2002 Busan Asian Games and participated in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. He is also a member of the AFI Athletes Commission.
Sagoo was the only candidate after incumbent senior vice president Anju Bobby George withdrew from the election. His election was confirmed during the AFI’s two-day Annual General Meeting.
With a throw of 19.03m, Sagoo secured the men’s shot put gold, boasting a personal best of 20.40m, and he is a recipient of the Padma Shri award.
No other elections were held for the remaining positions, mirroring the situation from the previous AGM in 2020.
Sandeep Mehta, the top official from the Delhi unit, was elected unopposed as AFI secretary, having previously served as senior joint secretary in the outgoing executive council. Stanely Jones was appointed treasurer.
Sumariwalla, who has held the president position since 2012, was ineligible to contest this election due to the prevailing National Sports Code. During his tenure, Neeraj Chopra achieved a historic gold in the Tokyo Olympics and a silver in the Paris Games.
Currently, Sumariwalla is a member of the influential executive board of World Athletics. (PTI)
Leave a Reply