From Tossing Equipment To Tossing Athletes: A Timeline Of Indian Sportspersons Being Neglected

Last Updated:May 06, 2026, 12:21 IST

From poles thrown off trains to athletes forced onto floors, here's a timeline of repeated mistreatment reveals how Indian athletes continue to be failed by authorities.

Indian athletes keep fighting to keep delivering on the field. But, off it? The system keeps tripping them up.

For all the celebration that follows their success, a troubling pattern remains: Athletes are too often treated as inconveniences, not representatives of the country, especially while travelling with essential gear.

2026 (May): Poles Thrown Off Train Mid-Journey

A group of Tamil Nadu athletes, including U-20 gold medallist Kavinraja, were returning from a national meet in Bhubaneswar when Railway Protection Force personnel cut the ropes securing their pole vault equipment to a train window near Rajahmundry.

The poles, each worth around ₹1 lakh, fell onto the tracks while the train was moving. One athlete had to pull the emergency chain to stop the train and retrieve them.

Travelling on waitlisted tickets, the group was already navigating a difficult journey. The incident came just days after national records were broken at the same event.

2026 (January): National Champions Forced Off Train

Earlier this year, national champions Dev Meena and Kuldeep Yadav were deboarded at Panvel for carrying pole vault poles deemed “oversized."

Despite repeated explanations, officials refused to relent. The athletes were stranded for nearly five hours, their credentials ignored. The standoff ended only after ₹5,000 changed hands following a call to their coach.

2022: Equipment Tossed Out, Plea for Accountability

Tamil Nadu pole vaulter Pavithra Venkatesh faced a similar ordeal when she and her teammates were forced off a train for carrying equipment without prior permission.

A video of Pavithra describing the incident went viral, prompting the Tamil Nadu Athletics Association to intervene. The athletes had boarded a morning train from Thiruvananthapuram after a national event, only to be stopped at Kollam by a TTE citing rules violations.

The backlash was immediate, but like many such cases, it raised more questions than it resolved.

2016: Athlete Loses Leg After Being Thrown Off Train

In one of the most disturbing cases, national-level volleyball player Arunima Sinha lost her leg after being thrown off a moving train near Bareilly.

Amid public outrage, the Railways later offered her a job. While the gesture acknowledged the incident, it did little to address the systemic failures that led to it or compensate for the life-altering consequences.

2016: Women’s Hockey Team Forced to Sit on Train Floor

Members of India’s women’s hockey team, including Olympians Deep Grace Ekka and Namita Toppo, were reportedly made to sit on the floor during a train journey despite being railway employees.

With unconfirmed tickets and no effort made by the TTE to arrange seats, players representing the country were denied basic dignity.

2015: Fencing Champion Dies After Alleged Push

National fencing player Hoshiyar Singh died after allegedly being pushed off a train by railway personnel.

According to his family, he was confronted for entering a women’s coach to check on his unwell wife. When he refused to pay a fine, he was allegedly assaulted and thrown off the train.

The incident remains one of the starkest reminders of how quickly negligence can turn fatal.

A Pattern That Refuses to Change

From damaged equipment to life-altering injuries, the pattern is hard to ignore.

For a country investing heavily in sporting success, the bigger question remains: how long will athletes have to fight battles off the field?

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