Pickleball becoming an Olympic sport would be a dream come true for the thousands and thousands of picklers around the world. But the reality is that it will probably take some time—never mind if it’s the world’s fastest-rising sport.
That’s because pickleball will need to hurdle quite a few hurdles first before being even considered as part of the Quadrennial showpiece. Among other things, these criteria must first be satisfied:
- A sport must be widely practiced by men in at least 75 countries and on four continents and by women in no fewer than 40 countries and on three continents.
- The sport must also increase the ‘‘value and appeal’’ of the Olympic Games and retain and reflect its modern traditions.
- The sport must be part of the World Anti-Doping Code.
- The sport must be governed by an international federation that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognises.
So, it might take years before pickleball satisfies all the requirements of the IOC in including new sports to the Olympics. Having said that, an Asian country might be the key mover towards pickleball getting into the world’s most prestigious athletic event. That country is India.
After the US, the birthplace of pickleball, India is arguably the next most pickleball-crazy country in the world right now. Tournaments like the PWR DUPR India Masters and the recently concluded 4th Indian Pickleball Association (IPA) Nations hosted at the Bennett University prove as much. Now, two of India’s prime pickleball movers—Pranav Kohli, CEO and co-founder of Pickleball World Rankings (PWR) and Aditya Khanna, co-founder of PWR—are taking a more active role in pushing for the sport’s inclusion to the Olympics.
The plan, it appears, is to have pickleball included in the 2036 Olympics, which could potentially take place in India. This became a distinct possibility in October 2023 after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the country’s intention to host the Olympics in 2036 at the 141st IOC session in Mumbai. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) formalised this ambitious bid by sending a letter of intent to the IOC’s Future Host Commission.
“It is a single-point agenda—2036 Olympics in India for pickleball to be an Olympic sport and India to have its first gold medal in pickleball. For that governance needs to be right. India is going to lead the charge in that. With the participation and the Hockey Stick growth, we are going to see, it is going to be critical we take the onus on ourselves,” said Kohli during the ET Now Global Business Summit. “With the Olympics going to happen in all probability in India, I think it becomes even more imperative that India takes the lead to get International Olympics Committee (IOC) recognition and getting the Olympics in India.”
If pickleball isn’t in the Olympics by then, India looks like the country that could make it happen. After all, it already did the same for cricket, which will be making its Olympic debut in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. And for Kohli and Khanna, establishing the PWR DUPR India League is a big, bold step towards attaining such lofty goal.
“What the IPL [Indian Premier League] did for Indian cricket is truly wonderful. That is what this league [PWR DUPR India League] is set to do for pickleball. Indian players will play in the league and the grassroots league will start. As leagues like this come, prize money and sponsorship opportunities will increase. These Indian players become heroes for junior kids and that’s where the junior grassroots development starts,” explained Khanna.
He added: “Governance structure is very important for leagues like this. The Indian Pickleball Association (IPA) is working strongly with the Global Pickleball Federation (GPF). GPF is aligned with the US Pickleball Association (USPA), which is the rule-making body. GPS has continental federations with Europe, Asia, South America, and America. They are following the international Olympic structure of getting international Olympic recognition… We are working strongly with the APA and GPF to take the sport to the Olympics. That is the dream of us as a group to have Pickleball in the Olympics when it happens in India in 2036.”
That still-unrealised dream might again be years in the making. But with pickleball’s unprecedented and continuing growth and with countries like India taking the lead, it’s safe to say seeing pickleball isn’t wishful thinking. It won’t be happening in 2028. Even so, there’s always 2032… and 2036.
(Watch below the full ET Now Global Business Summit with Kohli and Khanna.)
