Austus, Auto Polo, Cricket on Horseback, Cnapan, and Equestrian Fencing are among hosts of discontinued ancient sports.
The reason for their extinction can be attributed to not meeting modern standards set by the federations and International Olympic Committee (IOC) or simply failing to gain popularity.
While some, like Pentathlon, were discontinued after the ancient Olympics.
At present, Kalaripayattu, an Indian martial art that originated in Kerala during the 11th–12th century CE, is in a fix. It was demoted to a demo sport at the 38th National Games 2025 in Uttarakhand, making it to the final list of 35 sports.
The demonstration status was allotted to the sport after its stakeholders filed a petition in Delhi High Court to reinstate its full status in the National Games, which eventually was denied by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
It is, however, speculated that the demo status was allotted as the National Games wanted to follow the Commowealth Games and Olympic format.
It remains to be seen if the ancient sport retains in picture with India showing interest to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games and 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
However, there is much at stake for the athletes who bank on the sport for a living.
“Look at the number of participants and all the areas this is played in, I think it should be a medal event,” Gaurav Dangi, who won a gold medal in the ongoing edition told The Indian Express.
“It’s a good mix of different disciplines. And there are wellness aspects to it, like controlled breathing and strength and conditioning,” Srijith R, who won the gold medal in the ‘unarmed fight’ category on Thursday, said.
It remains to be seen if there is a way forward for the ancient sport.
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