Before becoming an Olympic sport, flag football was mostly played only in gym classes across the United States. It was the perfect workout, providing intense aerobic exercise, building balance and strength, and teaching teamwork. This little-known sport, with what The New York Times calls a “recreational, amateur, intramural reputation,” was inducted into the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics nine months ago.
Xiangqi, also known as Xiang Chess, is a “sport” played mostly in Chinatowns around the world. Last year, it was included in the Asian Games, marking the second time this little-known sport has made it this far. Naturally, both times Xiangqi was played at the Asian Games, the host country was China. And it was clear to everyone that China swept all the gold medals.
These two examples are for those who completely reject the idea of including yoga in the Olympics or Asian Games.
If the disdain for this proposal stems from fears that it is being used as a propaganda tool by the BJP government, it is important to note that yoga transcends any ideology and remains a tool of India’s soft power, regardless of which party is in power.
The debate on whether yoga should be included as a competitive sport must be based purely on its merits as a sport. For the sake of brevity, let’s look at three key questions surrounding this debate:
First, can it be called a sport? The Oxford English Dictionary defines sport as “an activity involving physical effort and skill regulated by established rules or conventions in which an individual or team competes against one or more others, especially in modern usage.” Yoga meets this definition, so it ticks that box.
Now, on to the next debate: does making yoga competitive go against the fundamental spirit of yoga, which is to be a spiritual practice? This remains a philosophical debate, but it is hard to imagine that simply making yoga competitive would make it less valuable.
Few global practices are as inclusive, inclusive, and far-reaching as yoga. According to Statista, “yoga remains the most commonly practiced sport among women in all countries.” In 2023, 33.6 million people in the United States practiced yoga. By comparison, the total number of people who played flag football, the newest Olympic sport, was estimated at 20 million in 100 countries. Even T20 cricket, which was included in the Los Angeles Olympics, is played in far fewer countries compared to yoga.
Yoga could take a leaf out of flag football’s book on its journey to the Olympics: It took the American sport 20 years to make it into the Olympics, during which time officials codified it, held international championships and spread competitive versions around the world.
These are the steps that yoga must also follow. Yoga has been featured as a competitive sport in the Khelo India Youth Games and is largely modelled on gymnastics.
The competition was divided into three categories: Artistic Yoga, Rhythmic Yoga, and Traditional Yoga.
Artistic Yoga was very similar to artistic yoga, where the contestants had to perform different poses for three minutes to music. The contestants had to incorporate 10 asanas from a pre-determined list into their routines. The routines varied in difficulty and included leg balances, hand balances, backbends, forward bends, body twists, etc. Points were awarded based on the difficulty.
In rhythmic yoga, the athletes performed in pairs or quintets and were required to perform asanas in sync with one another, holding each position for five to seven seconds, much like synchronized swimmers.
The smoother the transition between the two positions, the higher the score the athlete will receive.
Traditional yogis had to hold the pose for 15 or 30 seconds, depending on the asana. Scoring focused on balance and stability. Like gymnastics, yoga can be a thrilling sport where athletes with resilient bodies can perform phenomenally.
And finally, do international athletics rules allow a sport like yoga to be part of a major athletics event? In the case of the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee gives the host country the right to include one or more sports that are popular in their region. At the Asian Games, it is a tradition to include sports that are popular and important to the continent’s identity.
Like other host nations, the United States and China have followed these rules and pushed for the inclusion of sports that are culturally significant to their countries, so there is no reason for India to be hesitant in lobbying for the inclusion of yoga in the Olympics and Asian Games.
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