India may not be one of the favourites at the Olympic Games but when it comes to manufacturing equipment, the country will make its presence felt across the field events at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium.
The sport’s governing body World Athletics has listed six companies to provide implements for shot put, discus and hammer throw events. Out of the six companies, three organizations are based in India – Anand Track and Field Equipment (ATE), Bhalla International and Nelco.
They will provide shot put (7.26kg), discus (2kg) and hammer (7.26kg) during the Olympics which commences on July 23. These implements are kept in a holding rack at the competition site for the participants to select from.
“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,” Adarsh Anand of ATE 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.
ATE has a factory in New Delhi and also has a registered office in Meerut.
Bhalla International also contributed high-quality products in the 2016 Rio Olympics and isn’t backing down from providing implements in the upcoming Olympic games. They will be 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.
Several competing athletes will be coming with their customised implements like Neeraj Chopra would use a Nemeth or a Nordic brand javelin, while some athletes might prefer using the implements kept at the racks of the competition site.
“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.
India’s veteran athlete Seema Punia will be using the discus manufactured by one of the biggest sports goods equipment exporters in India, Bhalla International.
“Seema Punia is using our discus and I am expecting some other competitors also,” Bhalla said.
India’s leading sports goods equipment exporters, Bhalla International have a different approach while providing the implements as they don’t charge money for the types of equipment.
“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 shot put, discuss or a hammer of good quality is priced between ₹6000 to ₹10,000.
Talented Indian athletes participating in the mega sports event and paying attention to the local sports goods providing companies for equipment will encourage the budding manufacturers in the country. Being visible across the field events at the Olympic games will provide the necessary exposure to the local sports goods companies and also help them acquire international businesses as well.