Six Gujarat cities to host National Games
The 2022 National Games of India will be held in Gujarat from September 27 to October 10 2022. Gujarat will host the National Games for the first time. India’s prestigious multi-event sporting showcase returns after a gap of seven years. It was last held in Kerala in 2015.
The Games will be held across six cities of Gujarat — Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and Bhavnagar. This will be the 36th edition of the National Games, and an estimated 7,000 athletes will take part across 36 sporting disciplines. The Games will see participation from all 28 states and eight Union Territories, as it seeks to promote the theme, ‘Sports for Unity’.
At the 35th Games in Kerala, Services (91 gold) topped the medal tally, followed by Kerala and Haryana. Kerala swimmer Sajan Prakash emerged as the top athlete with eight medals including six gold and two silver.
After Kerala in 2015, Goa was to host the 36th edition in November 2016. After delays in 2018 and 2019, the Games was postponed to 2020. COVID-19 then forced the postponement of the National Games and the Goa government was not certain it would be able to host the event this year.