Indian athletics calendar 2026 – full schedule

Bhubaneswar will also host the inaugural edition of the National Indoor Athletics Championships at the Kalinga Stadium in March.

Another new indoor competition that is being introduced by the AFI is the First Indian Indoor Open Combined Events and Pole Vault Competition, which will also be held in Bhubaneswar in early May.

Furthermore, a new 16-part regional series – the Indian Athletics Series – will run from April to September with the aim of boosting grassroots participation. The series will be staged across multiple states nationwide.

The addition of several new competitions has seen India’s 2026 athletics calendar expand from 32 to 40 events with a focus on maximising preparation and build-up ahead of the 2026 edition of the Asian Games, which starts in Japan from September 19.

On participation in the 2026 Asian and Commonwealth Games, which starts on July 23 in Glasgow, national coach P. Radhakrishnan Nair said athletes will be required to compete in more than one select event to qualify for the global meets. However, the specific competitions that will serve as qualifiers are yet to be finalised.

Meanwhile, the 29th National Senior Athletics Federation Championships will be held in May. Indian athletes who have competed in at least two competitions will be eligible to participate in the meet.

The 65th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships, on the other hand, will require athletes to compete in a minimum of at least three events to be eligible for entry.

The 65th National Open Athletics Championships – India’s third major national championships in 2026 – will take place from October 8 to 11 in New Delhi.

The 41st National Junior Athletics Championships, the season-ending meet on the Indian athletics calendar, will be held a few days later in the last week of October.