India's awesome foursome— long jumper Anju Bobby George, first Indian to win a World Athletics Championships medal; Priyanka Goswami, 10,000 m race walk 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist; Annu Rani, 2022 Commonwealth Games javelin bronze medallist; and 2018 U-20 400m champion and two-time Asian Games gold medallist Hima Das—took centre stage at the Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) upbeat announcement of a partnership with HSBC India at a conference held at a Lower Parel hotel on Monday morning.

The partnership with HSBC pumping money into the AFI, for its grassroots programmes with a focus on women, was all about equality and opportunity. It will help the AFI put more resources into spreading its dragnet to scout talent among girls across the country and nurture it. It is about giving young women the chance to train with the best coaches and realise their athletic ambitions. It means opening up the world to them. Dreams, though important, are the intangible first steps towards athletic achievement. Money is one part that helps turn dreams into reality.