36 Athletes, One Uncomfortable Question: Is Manipur’s Sporting Powerhouse Losing Its Edge?

Imphal: Thirty-six athletes from Manipur will represent India at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, across nine disciplines, with three coaches also part of the contingent. For a State long celebrated as India's sporting powerhouse, the representation is remarkable.

But to those who know the ground reality, it is also something of a paradox. For behind the celebratory headlines lies an uncomfortable question: are Manipur’s athletes succeeding because of the State’s sporting system—or despite it?

Manipur's sporting credentials are beyond dispute. The watershed came with the 5th National Games in Imphal in 1999, when the State emerged overall champion with 112 medals, including 49 gold. The Games brought substantial sporting infrastructure and helped establish Manipur as a national sporting powerhouse.

The legacy continued. At the 33rd National Games in Assam in 2007, Manipur won 51 gold medals. But subsequent performances have been uneven, and concerns over ageing infrastructure, inadequate equipment and insufficient support have grown steadily.

Image: Fencing Indian Squad for 20th Asian Games

Image: Khuman Lampak Main Stadium with a seating capacity of 35,000

Fencing perhaps illustrates the decline most dramatically.

Manipur was once a dominant force in the discipline. At the 2007 National Games in Assam, the State's fencers were among the country's strongest performers, grabbing all 12 gold medals in the discipline. Nearly two decades later, the picture is markedly different. At the 38th National Games in Uttarakhand in 2025, Manipur managed just one individual fencing gold, won by Naorem Mina, alongside a silver and a bronze in team events.

The decline cannot simply be attributed to athletes losing talent. Veteran fencers and coaches have repeatedly pointed to inadequate modernisation of training facilities and equipment. One particularly telling complaint is that the State fencing centre under Youth Affairs and Sports has lacked facilities comparable to the air-conditioned competition environments in which athletes are expected to compete. This is the larger problem.

Image: 5th National Games 1999 Mascot

The infrastructure created for the 1999 National Games was a tremendous investment. But elite sport has changed enormously in the intervening 27 years. Equipment, sports science, conditioning, recovery, nutrition and performance technology have all evolved. Much of Manipur's sporting infrastructure, coaches and athletes say, has not kept pace.

The State's continuing ethnic conflict has made the situation even more difficult. Since May 3, 2023, normal movement across Manipur has been severely disrupted. For many athletes, road travel to competitions outside the State is no longer a dependable option. Air travel has therefore become increasingly important—and expensive. Yet athletes reportedly receive only around ₹6,000 as State travel assistance. That amount may not cover even a one-way airfare from Imphal to several major Indian cities. For athletes, many of whom come from economically modest families, this is not a minor inconvenience. It can determine whether they participate at all. Training expenses, accommodation, food, equipment and recovery costs remain additional burdens. And still they win. That is perhaps the most revealing part of the story.

It would be unfair to suggest that the Government spends nothing on sports. The 2026–27 budget contains substantial allocations for Youth Affairs and Sports, including provisions for sports infrastructure, equipment, coaching, sportsperson welfare, and the Chief Minister's Sportsperson Livelihood Guarantee Scheme.

Image: Kayaking

The Government has also announced upgrades to the Khuman Lampak cycling velodrome and new sports complexes in several districts. But a budget allocation is not the same as a functioning facility. A sanctioned project is not the same as a completed project. And a stadium is not a sporting ecosystem.

The Khelo India infrastructure database, for instance, has recorded significant projects in Manipur where implementation remains incomplete. The National Sports University and the SAI Regional Centre at Takyel provide further institutional opportunities, but the challenge remains connecting these institutions effectively with the grassroots sporting pipeline.

There have also been allegations that positions earmarked for sportspersons within the Youth Affairs and Sports Department have been filled by non-sportspersons, prompting protests by employees. While these allegations warrant verification against the applicable recruitment rules and records, they raise a larger question about the integrity of sports administration. For a State that aspires to remain a sporting powerhouse, how it manages and rewards its sporting talent is ultimately as important as the infrastructure it builds.

Image: Manipuris in the India WomenFootball Squad

The 36 Manipuri athletes heading to Japan are a magnificent testament to the State's sporting culture and the extraordinary resilience of its young people. Weightlifting, Wushu, women's hockey, Sepaktakraw and fencing offer particular medal hopes, while canoeing and kayaking, cycling, rowing and boxing also bring Manipur's distinctive strength to the Indian contingent.

But their presence should not become an excuse for complacency. Quite the opposite. It should force Manipur to confront what is happening beneath the medals.

Every athlete who has to leave the State to find better training is a warning. Every outdated piece of equipment is a handicap. Every unfinished facility represents an opportunity lost. Every youngster who abandons sport because the family cannot afford the cost is a champion who may never be known.

Manipur still has the talent. It still has the sporting culture. What it urgently needs is the institutional commitment to match them.

The 36 athletes will carry Manipur's flag in spirit when they compete for India in Japan. When they return, however, the State must ask itself a more difficult question: Are we nurturing the next generation of champions—or simply surviving on the greatness of the last one?

Thirty-six Manipuri athletes are heading to the 20th Asian Games in Japan. It is a moment of pride—but also a moment to ask whether the State is living off its sporting legacy rather than building its future.

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