‘Neeraj Chopra Classic will change face of Indian athletics’

The Neeraj Chopra Classic event is jointly organised by Neeraj and JSW Sports in collaboration with the Athletics Federation of India and the World Athletics can change the face of Indian athletics itself

Hyderabad: India’s greatest athlete ever, Neeraj Chopra, feels that the Neeraj Chopra Classic, an international javelin meet to be held in Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on May 24, can change the face of Indian athletics itself.

The event is jointly organised by Neeraj and JSW Sports in collaboration with the Athletics Federation of India and the World Athletics can change the face of Indian athletics itself.

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“Till now, the Indians have been seeing the world-class athletes in action on TV. But now they have a chance to see them at the stadium. The event should be of great help to Indian athletes too and not just to the javelin sport itself,” 27-year-old Neeraj said in a virtual interaction on Monday.

“It has been a long-standing dream for me to organise this kind of event in India. When I used to compete abroad with all those big athletes, I thought, why not have a similar competition in India? So, finally it is happening,” Neeraj, the former Olympic gold medallist and the World Champion, said.

“It will be an annual feature and in future, more events will be incorporated. The World Athletics will definitely get a feel of how popular athletics is in India and also the organisational skills of all of us, as we are all known for our hospitality,” he said. “We will try to get the prestigious Diamond League to India also,” he added.

“Winning medals is a different feeling. They are at home. But, by organising this event, which is India’s first-ever World Athletics Category A event and qualification event for the World Championship, I feel there is a great feeling of giving back something to the Indian athletes through this event,” Neeraj said.

“The reason to name it as Neeraj Chopra Classic is that most of these kinds of events abroad are named after big athletes. So, that was the inspiration,” the champion athlete said.

“Some of the big names Anderson Peters (Grenada) and Julius Yego (Kenya), 2016 Olympic gold medallist Thomas Roehler (Germany) and world leader Curtis Thompson (USA) will be in action and there are plans to have at least three to four Indians too in the fray,” Neeraj said.

On Pakistan’s Paris Olympics gold medallist Arshad Nadeem’s participation in the meet, Neeraj said that he was in touch with the star athlete and waiting for the final confirmation.

“Initially, Panchkula in Haryana was to be the venue, but because of the issue with floodlights (with regard to lux capacity for live telecast), it has to be shifted to Bengaluru,” he said.

“We have a complete team at JSW taking care of every aspect in organising the event successfully and I feel that the Bengaluru evening weather would be perfect for the event and the fans will have a great time,” Neeraj said.

“We are keen to ensure the best experience for the fans and also to see that the ticket pricing is not too high,” he said.

On balancing between training and organising the event, a smiling Neeraj said that it was initially challenging to come out of the comfort zone of a participating athlete, but certainly enjoying it because the event was very close to his heart. “I sincerely appeal to all to make it a huge success,” he signed off.