Just Do It

The exhilarating feeling you get after working hard on the field, pushing your body for another lap and the sense of victory of breaking your own best record- all make athletics a wonderful experience meant to be celebrated.

World Athletics Day has become an important sporting event over the years, in both its symbolism and its prestige

Often, in the rush of life and in the pursuit to stay one step ahead of everyone, we forget to pay attention to the most important facet of our life, our health. We slog our days away sitting idly behind a screen and mindlessly chomping on food, without giving any thought to how that might affect our physical well-being.

With this in mind, the International Amateur Athletic Federation OR, IAAF for short, began to celebrate and organise the extravaganza World Athletics Day on this day, starting the year 1996.

A brainchild of the then President Primo Nebiolo, who inaugurated the first games, it has the entire gamut of track and field sports- from road running to throwing and jumping, from cross-country running to race-walking.

IAAF journey as the prestigious organisation it has come to be, commenced in the July of 1912 and Stockholm in Sweden became the cradle of this noble initiative. It's primary motive was to motivate children to remain active and see sports.

There were four explicit objectives of the IAAF- " 1. Popularize sports among the youth; 2. Promote Athletics as the primary sport in schools and institutions; 3. To increase public awareness about sports and to educate youngsters about the importance of sports; 4. To firmly establish an important link between the youth, our sport, and environmental conservation."

The first games organised in 1996 were centred around the Olympic Games in Atlanta, USA- Two boys and girls each from all continental areas were chosen from the games and got the chance to witness the Olympic Games unfold in front of their eyes.

Athletics in India have a rich history too- the Athletics Federation of India came into existence when the country was at the cusp of Independence in 1946. Athletics, however, suffer from institutional constraints in India. The country is overflowing with sports prodigies at all levels and in every corner, but their careers are stifled by internal politics, corruption and a sheer lack of investment.