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Union sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said India will push for Yogasana’s inclusion in the Olympic Games as the country prepares its bid to host the 2036 Olympics. His comments came ahead of the first-ever World Yogasana Championship, which will be held in Ahmedabad from June 4 to 8.The championship will feature 529 athletes from more than 60 countries, including 114 Indian participants. The Indian squad was selected through trials and is currently training at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad.“Yogasana will be among the traditional sports in the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad…We are bidding to host the Olympic Games in 2036 and when that happens, our sport should be there on the roster. Efforts are being made by both the government of India and the national federation (Yogasana Bharat) to ensure that Yoga becomes an Olympic sport by that time,” Mandaviya said during the launch event of the championship.“Procedure is to have 75 countries as your signatories to become an international federation, after which a plea to the International Olympic Committee can be made for a sport’s inclusion in the Olympics,” he added.World Yogasana vice president Udit Sheth said the federation wants Yogasana to first become a demonstration sport at the 2032 Olympics.“Our vision is to have it as a demonstration sport in the 2032 Olympics and then make it a medal event in 2036 irrespective of whether the Games happen in Ahmedabad or anywhere else,” he said.The tournament will include 12 events across six age groups for men and women, starting from age 10 and going up to 55 years.Teams from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will not take part in the event.World Yogasana secretary general Jaideep Arya said participation numbers could have been higher but some countries pulled out because of the military conflict in the Gulf region.“Three-four countries had to withdraw because of the war but overall participation is quite good. Nepal and Sri Lanka have the biggest contingent after india but we have participation from countries like the Netherlands, Oman, Japan, Kenya and Mauritius,” Arya told reporters.He explained that while yoga is generally seen as a wellness activity, Yogasana is based on physical postures that can be judged competitively.“Yoga is a wellness technique but yogasana is physical posture that can be judged. We have divided the competition into artistic and rhythmic and points system to be implemented by nine judges around the field of play.”Athletes will be judged on factors such as alignment, symmetry, face direction and muscle stability while performing asanas.Sheth said the championship will not be shown live on television and will instead be used for a documentary project.“Yogasana has the potential to become India’s greatest sporting contribution to the world and that’s where we are going. This is more than a championship, it is the beginning of a global sporting movement,” he said.
