Athlete Rahul Jhore was worried to see his teammates quit the sport every few months. Over the past year, more and more athletes skipped weekly training claiming sickness — coughs, body aches, chest pain, and breathlessness.
But “the problem wasn’t the rigorous training; it was the polluted air we were breathing,” said Jhore.
He and his teammates run 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) a day as part of their training for Kabaddi, a seven-a-side contact sport. Without training facilities in their Bhadole village, in India’s Maharashtra state, they are forced to use roadways congested with fumes from old cars and trucks.