Sports

Athletics in Chennai: Nehru Stadium Track, Meets and Clubs

The National Junior Athletics Championships are at Nehru Stadium this week. Here is how young Chennai athletes climb from district meets to nationals.

24 October 2026

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Athletics in Chennai: track, meets, clubs

India’s best young track and field athletes are in Chennai this week. The 41st National Junior Athletics Championships run from 23 to 27 October 2026 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Periamet, with the Tamil Nadu Athletics Association as organiser, according to the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) schedule. The five-day meet covers the Under-14, Under-16, Under-18 and Under-20 age groups and has 98 finals, from sprints and relays to race walks and multi-events.

For a Chennai family with a child who runs fast at the school sports day, the meet is a useful picture of where the sport leads. This guide explains the Nehru Stadium track, the ladder of competitions from district to national level, the paperwork an athlete needs and the free coaching routes the state runs.

The track at Nehru Stadium

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is the hub of athletics in the city. The state’s 2024-25 sports policy note describes its main track as a newly laid, UV-protected, Class-I synthetic track of 400 metres with eight lanes, and lists a 60-metre air-conditioned indoor warm-up track as well. The stadium seats 40,000.

The same policy note counts eight synthetic tracks across seven districts, two of them in Chennai: the main Nehru Stadium track and the warm-up track at the Integrated Sports Complex next door. The others are at Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli, Tiruvannamalai and the Nilgiris, with new tracks being built at Erode and Thanjavur under the Khelo India infrastructure scheme.

The competition ladder

Athletics in India runs through a federation chain. AFI sits at the top, the Tamil Nadu Athletics Association is its state unit, and district associations hold the first rounds. A young athlete typically moves up like this:

School and district meets. District championships, usually held by age group, are where most children first compete outside school.
State championships. Good performances at district level lead to selection for the state age-group and senior meets run by the Tamil Nadu association.
Zonal and national meets. The state picks teams for AFI’s zonal and national junior events. AFI’s events calendar also lists the National Inter District Junior Athletics Meet (NIDJAM) in Hyderabad from 14 to 16 November 2026, a separate route for district-level juniors.
Open senior meets. Chennai hosted the Indian Athletics Series 6 at Nehru Stadium on 10 May 2026, an AFI meet for seniors and Under-20 athletes.

The state government’s Chief Minister’s Trophy games are a parallel route. The CM Trophy 2026 portal lists athletics among its sports, with categories for school students, college students, the general public, government employees and differently abled players.

Paperwork: UID, entries and fees

For national meets, the key document is the AFI UID. The circular for Indian Athletics Series 6 shows how it works: athletes needed a valid UID and an AFI qualifying mark set at a national, state or AFI-recognised meet with electronic timing or measurement within the previous year. Entries were filed online on the AFI website between 16 and 30 April, at ₹1,200 per event, non-refundable. Junior entrants had to be born between 11 May 2006 and 10 May 2010, and athletes were told to carry the UID card to the call room.

Registration and entries now run through AFI’s online registration system. That shift has a Chennai link. In a case brought by a discus thrower who alleged favouritism in the state association, the Madras High Court in January 2022 directed sports bodies to set up online registration for district, state and national championships and to publish what they spend on each athlete, LiveLaw reported. The court also said key posts in sports associations should go to sportspersons.

Free coaching: hostels and Centres of Excellence

The state’s Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) runs the most structured athletics coaching in the city. According to the 2024-25 policy note:

Athletics Centres of Excellence operate at Nehru Stadium for boys and at the Nehru Indoor Stadium for girls.
Students in a Centre of Excellence get ₹250 a day for food for 320 days, ₹10,000 a year for kit and shoes, and ₹10,000 for equipment.
College athletes can join the Sports Hostels of Excellence, for men at Nehru Stadium and for women at the Nehru Indoor Stadium; athletics is offered in both.
Specialist academies sit outside Chennai: sprints and jumps at Madurai, throws at Tiruchirappalli, and middle and long distance at Tiruvannamalai.

Admission to these programmes is by selection trials. Tamil Nadu athletes won 18 athletics medals, 11 of them gold, at the Khelo India Youth Games 2023, the same note records.

How to join a club in Chennai

Most young athletes enter the system through a club, a school team or a coaching group that is affiliated to the Chennai district association. A practical route:

Ask the physical education teacher at school which coaches and clubs send athletes to the district meet.
Visit Nehru Stadium in the early morning or evening, when coaching groups train, and speak to coaches directly.
Keep a birth certificate and Aadhaar ready, since age proof is checked at every level.
Watch for SDAT’s sports hostel and Centre of Excellence trials, usually announced ahead of the academic year.

Quick answers

When and where are the National Junior Athletics Championships in Chennai?

From 23 to 27 October 2026 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Periamet, for Under-14 to Under-20 athletes.

Do I need an AFI UID to compete?

For AFI national meets, yes. The Indian Athletics Series 6 circular required a valid UID and a qualifying mark.

Is SDAT coaching free?

Centre of Excellence and hostel places come with food, kit and equipment allowances, but entry is through selection trials.

Which Chennai venues have synthetic tracks?

Nehru Stadium has the main eight-lane track, and the Integrated Sports Complex next door has a warm-up track.

Information checked against official sources on 23 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.