National Sports Day 2025: Date, Theme, History, and Significance

Earning several honours and making significant contributions to India’s national sport, field hockey, Dhyan Chand won India’s first Olympic gold medals in field hockey from 1929 to 1936.

Dhyan Chand with the ball in the 1936 Olympic semi-finals versus France. (Wikimedia Commons)

Aside from the National Sports Day, which commemorates his birth date, India’s top sporting distinction, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, is also named after him.

This year, it is being marked on Friday, August 29, 2025, under the theme of ‘Ek Ghanta, Khel ke Maidan Main’ as the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports launched a “nationwide sports and fitness movement from August 29 to 31.

The Fit India Mission is leading this year’s events, which also honour the Olympic ideals of Excellence, Friendship, and Respect, as well as the Paralympic principles of Courage, Determination, Inspiration, and Equality.

“The movement seeks to spread awareness about the importance of dedicating at least 60 minutes daily to physical activity for preventing lifestyle diseases,” said the ministry in a Press Information Bureau release.

EXPRESS EXPLAINED | National Sports Day: Story of Dhyan Chand, India’s first sporting superstar

It further stated that, “Eminent athletes and public representatives are also set to take part in the celebrations and engage with sports activities in all corners of the nation. Renowned sportspersons will be stepping onto the playgrounds at State capitals as well as across all districts on 29th August.”

National Sports Day was first celebrated in 2012, with the significance behind observing the day being to promote sports in the country and acknowledge the efforts of Indian athletes.

The President of India often awards prestigious sports honours, including the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the highest sporting accolade in India.

The Government of India uses this day as a platform to launch various sports schemes, such as the Khelo India movement, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.