India’s government is lobbying for yogasana, a competitive form of yoga, to be added to the Olympic programme alongside the country’s bid for the 2036 Summer Games. That is a concrete new push, but it is not an Olympic programme decision.
That distinction matters. SVT reports that the government has promoted yogasana in connection with India’s 2036 bid. The available material does not say that the International Olympic Committee has received, considered or endorsed the proposal.
Yogasana can be athletic and visually striking, as SVT Sport commentator AnnaMaria Fredholm noted on Morgonstudion. Yet she also said the format needs discussion. That is the central test the proposal still faces: an Olympic discipline needs more than difficult performances. It needs a competition structure that athletes, judges and viewers can follow consistently.
Podcaster and comedian Robin Berglund was more dismissive after watching the yoga world championships, calling the event disorganised and saying it was not ready for the Olympics. His view is commentary, not a formal assessment of the sport. Still, it points to a practical weakness in the current campaign: India is promoting a discipline whose competitive presentation is still being publicly debated.
India’s initiative is worth treating seriously as an attempt to broaden the idea of what an Olympic sport can be. But it should not be presented as evidence that yogasana is on its way into the 2036 Games. A government can lobby for inclusion; an Olympic programme requires a separate process, and the supplied reporting provides no evidence of where that process stands.
Sources
- SVT Nyheter · Source date: 2026-11-10
Independent editorial content. WUA is not affiliated with any political party. 2026-11-10