Why sport matters

A nation that plays
is a nation that rises.

Sport is not a luxury for a country with bigger problems to solve. It is one of the ways a country solves them: healthier people, more confident young people, girls who stay in school, new jobs, and a shared reason to be proud. And when Indian athletes win on the world stage, they don't just win medals. They change what millions of children believe is possible. Every figure links to its source.

Part oneWhy sport matters to India

1 in 2Indian adults who don't get enough physical activity, up from about 1 in 5 in 2000Source

Health

A nation that moves lives longer

People who are not active enough have a 20 to 30% higher risk of death than those who are, according to the World Health Organization, and face more heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, dementia and some cancers (WHO). In India, nearly half of adults now fall short, and among women it is 57%.

Those diseases are expensive. A World Economic Forum and Harvard study estimated that non-communicable diseases and mental health conditions could cost India $4.58 trillion between 2012 and 2030 (WEF/Harvard). Sport is one of the cheapest medicines a country has. Playgrounds, school sport and local clubs are public health infrastructure, and the habit of playing, built in childhood, lasts a lifetime.

371MYoung Indians, the largest youth population in the worldSource

A young country

The world's largest generation of young people

India's median age is around 28. That young population is the country's greatest advantage, but only if young people are healthy, confident and connected to something bigger than themselves.

Sport teaches what classrooms struggle to: how to train for something for years, how to lose and come back, how to be part of a team that includes people unlike you. A cricket ground, a wrestling akhada or a hockey turf is often the only place where children from different castes, religions and incomes meet as equals. A country this young cannot afford to leave that to chance.

60 minDaily moderate-to-vigorous activity the WHO recommends for every child aged 5 to 17Source

Schools

Play doesn't cost marks. It can earn them

Many Indian families still see sport as time taken away from studies. The evidence says otherwise. A review of 41 systematic reviews and meta-analyses found that physical activity is not harmful to children's academic achievement and may help it, especially when it is regular (Barbosa et al., 2020). The WHO links regular activity in children to better thinking and mental health, and UNESCO says quality physical education improves academic performance and reduces risky behaviour (UNESCO).

The National Sports Policy 2025 now says sport should be treated as being as important as studies (Khelo Bharat Niti). Schools are where that promise is kept or broken.

2 of 2India's medals at Rio 2016 won by women: P. V. Sindhu and Sakshi MalikMedal history

Girls & women

Sport changes what girls believe they can do

When India needed a medal in Rio, it was two women who delivered. In Tokyo, three of India's seven Olympic medals were won by women. In Paris, women won 10 of India's 29 Paralympic medals outright and shared another (ESPN).

Off the podium, sport gives girls space, confidence and a reason to stay in school. Magic Bus, which runs sport-based programmes for children across India, reports school attendance among its participants rising from 59% to 86%, with gender attitudes improving most among girls (programme's own figures). Every girl who keeps playing is a girl who learns her body is strong and her voice counts.

2×Growth of India's sports media, sponsorship and endorsement market since 2021, to ₹18,864 crore in 2025Source

Economy

Sport is an industry, and a source of jobs

India's sports market nearly doubled in four years, from ₹9,530 crore in 2021 to ₹18,864 crore in 2025 (WPP Media). Behind it are coaches, physios, groundskeepers, broadcasters, event staff and the manufacturers of Jalandhar and Meerut.

India makes only about 0.5% of the world's sports equipment exports today. A NITI Aayog report estimates that with investment this could reach $8.1 billion by 2036 and create about 54 lakh jobs (NITI Aayog, via ANI). The government has approved 1,250 Khelo India centres around the country (All India Radio). A sporting nation is also a working one.

Part twoWhy winning on the world stage matters

3Indian men in the top six of the 2023 World Championships javelin final, a first for any countrySource

The medal effect

Every medal starts a movement

A medal is not the end of a story. It is the beginning of the next one. When Neeraj Chopra won javelin gold in Tokyo, the Athletics Federation of India declared 7 August National Javelin Day, with competitions in every state (AFI). Two years later, nearly 2,000 under-14 boys and girls entered kids' javelin at a single national junior meet, and three Indian men finished in the world top six (The Tribune). “We're throwing so well only because of him,” said fellow thrower Rohit Yadav (ESPN).

Children copy what they see. A gold medal on television does what no government poster can: it tells a child in Panipat, Imphal or Golaghat that someone like them can be the best in the world.

Beijing 2008Abhinav BindraIndia's first individual Olympic gold, in 10m air rifle. By 2024 a record 13,522 shooters entered the national championship.Source
London 2012 · Rio 2016Saina & SindhuOlympic bronze, then silver. Sindhu went on to win five World Championship medals, including gold in 2019, and a second Olympic medal in Tokyo.
Tokyo 2020Neeraj ChopraAthletics gold, then National Javelin Day, kids' javelin in every state, and three Indians in a world final.Source
Paris 2024India's Paralympians29 medals, up from 19 in Tokyo and the most India has ever won at a Paralympics.Source

17 crIndians who watched the Paris 2024 Olympics on JioCinema and Sports18Source

Pride

A billion people, one moment

Few things bring a country of India's size and variety together the way an Indian athlete on a podium does. Paris 2024 drew about 17 crore viewers on streaming and television in India, a record for the Olympics (Business Today).

The research on medals and national pride is mixed: some studies find a strong effect, others a small one. A large German study found two in three people felt proud when their athletes succeeded, and the effect was strongest among women, low-income groups and migrants, the people who often feel least included (Hallmann et al., 2013). Shared pride is not a replacement for progress, but it is a reason to believe in it.

65%UK viewers who said the London 2012 Paralympics improved how they saw disabled peopleSource

Para sport

Winning changes how a nation sees ability

After London 2012, 65% of British viewers said the Paralympic coverage improved their view of disabled people (Channel 4). After Paris 2024, a Nielsen survey for the International Paralympic Committee across 11 countries found 80% of people felt more positive about what disabled people can do (IPC).

The 2011 census counted more than 2.6 crore Indians with disabilities. Every time Sumit Antil, Avani Lekhara or Sheetal Devi wins, a family somewhere looks at a child differently. That is worth more than any medal table.

Top 10The government's goal for India at the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games; top five by 2047Source

The world stage

How the world sees India

India has won 41 Olympic medals in its history. Australia, with less than 2% of India's population, won more than that at Paris 2024 alone. The gap shapes how the world sees India: as a great economy, but not yet a great sporting nation. The government has set a goal of a top-ten finish at the 2036 Games and a place among the top five sporting nations by 2047 (All India Radio).

Ahmedabad will host the centenary Commonwealth Games in 2030 (IPC), and India hopes to host the 2036 Olympics. Hosting only pays off when the athletes are ready to win at home. The 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games cost many times its original estimate (TIME), a reminder that stadiums without a sporting culture stay empty. Champions fill them.

Every medal is a recruitment drive for the next generation.

That is why Bharat Podium gives every Indian athlete a page, and why we want fans and sponsors behind them long before the final.

Read our manifesto What's holding India back Meet the athletes

SourcesWhere these numbers come from

Checked 1 October 2026. Programme figures reported by organisations themselves are marked as such. Spotted an error? Tell us and we'll correct it in public.

A nation that playsis a nation that rises.