New Delhi: India’s two-time Olympic medallist and current world champion, Neeraj Chopra, will headline a prestigious international javelin tournament to be held in the country later this year, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) announced on Tuesday.
Chopra has risen to prominence as a global track and field icon, thanks to his remarkable international achievements, including consecutive medals at the Olympics and World Championships.
Following his historic gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Chopra added to his legacy with a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene and a gold in Budapest in 2023, before clinching an Olympic silver in Paris last year. Additionally, he has maintained a commanding presence in the Diamond League, securing consecutive podium finishes over the past three years. His triumphs include a title win in Zurich in 2022, along with silver medals in Eugene (2023) and Brussels (2024).
Despite his global success, Chopra has competed on home soil only once during this period. In May last year, he participated in the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar, where he secured victory with a throw of 82.27m. Since his Tokyo triumph, Chopra has primarily focused on training abroad and competing in international events. To leverage his worldwide popularity and boost athletics in India, the AFI is planning to host an international tournament at home.
“We are looking to hold a top javelin competition in India in which the top-10 javelin throwers in the world will compete. This will be an invitation tournament to be held later this year,” outgoing AFI president Adille Sumariwalla said in Chandigarh.
“Neeraj Chopra will be there. He is part of the team that is organising the event, along with JSW, a foreign firm, and the AFI are coming together to create this competition. This is being done as there is so much interest in javelin with August 7 — the day Neeraj won gold in Tokyo — being observed as National Javelin Day,” Sumariwalla added.
The AFI is planning to organize the event after the World Championships in Tokyo, scheduled to take place from September 13 to 21.
Chopra is expected to play an active role in promoting the home event by personally inviting top javelin throwers from around the world. Following the tradition of international track and field events, where star athletes help generate interest and attract elite competitors, Chopra’s involvement will be instrumental in ensuring the tournament’s success.
Chopra enjoys immense popularity on the athletics circuit and shares a strong camaraderie with many of the world’s top javelin throwers. Last year, despite withdrawing from the Golden Spike meet in the Czech Republic due to a minor injury, he honored his commitment to Olympic medallist Jakub Vadlejch by attending his home event as a guest. His gesture was highly appreciated by the organizers, further cementing his reputation as a respected and admired athlete.
With Neeraj Chopra, long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, and steeplechaser Avinash Sable propelling Indian athletics to new heights on the global stage, the AFI is keen to bring more international events to the country. AFI president Adille Sumariwalla revealed that India has already expressed interest in hosting the 2029 World Championships and the 2027 World Relays, signaling a bold step toward establishing India as a major hub for athletics.
The AFI has proposed hosting a bronze-level Continental Tour event in Bhubaneswar this year and has also submitted a bid to host the 2028 World Junior (U-20) Championships. These announcements were made last month during the visit of World Athletics president Sebastian Coe to India, reflecting the country’s growing ambitions in the athletics arena.
“I’ve been to the city (Bhubaneshwar) during the Asian Championships (in 2017), and it’s a good sporting city. I’ve also received a letter of intent to stage the U-20 World Championships from AFI. That now sits with our bidding team alongside other bids,” Coe had said, while confirming the continental tour meet in Bhubaneswar.
“They (AFI) are sharing an ambition to stage more of our events. But that’s over to our evaluation panel and bidding teams to go through the checks, and make sure that all the right assets are in place in order to do that,” Coe said.
