Athlete Neeraj Chopra carved his name with golden words in the history of Indian sports when he clinched a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. He became the first Indian track and field athlete to win a medal for India at the Olympics. The 23-year-old was quite promising in the qualification rounds and he got better as the finals came in. Neeraj has won several other incredible events for India in past as well, and with his new victory, he has become a national hero. Greetings have been flooded for the star javelin thrower as he created history. When Neeraj came back with a gold medal hanging around his neck, corporates, politicians, and many other franchises showered him with various gifts and awards. And the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has now decided to name August 7 as Javelin Throw Day to honor gold medallist Neeraj Chopra.

During the felicitation event of the Olympic medallists of India, the AFI’s Planning Commission Chairman Lalit Bhanot announced that, from next year onwards, August 7 will be observed as National Javelin Throw Day to encourage javelin throwers across the nation. The chairman additionally stated that the associated units of AFI will hold javelin throw competitions in various states. The AFI has also decided that it will organize inter-district competitions and will also provide javelins if they are required.

A country with quite average records in athletics suddenly woke up in the morning and witnessed the news of a 24-year-old Indian Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra creating history on 7th August. And thus, it was a very special date for India. The AFI announced 7th August as National Javelin Day because that day showed optimism and hope to numerous other athletes of the nation. The AFI is further planning to expand the competitions in the future years to give it the significance of a national event. It has already started the National Open Javelin Throw Competition in the year 2018, and the third edition of this competition is scheduled for October 2021. And presently the sports association is making more moves which can generate higher opportunities for many other sports like javelin throw.

Considering the fact that India is not a wide-ranging athletic nation, it is a pretty big thing that javelin throw has fascinated people due to this young prodigy Neeraj Chopra. Now the government and Athletic Federation is ensuring the youngster from Haryana is given sufficient funding and the best of facilities, training, and coaching. While speaking at the felicitation event Neeraj said, “I am feeling good that the AFI is making my achievement to be remembered in the days to come. I will be happy if my achievement becomes a reason to inspire the youngsters of this country to take athletics, especially javelin”.

While discussing the future of javelin in India, he said, “If the children are getting javelin and other facilities, I hope they will come and take up the sport and I will be happy to cheer for them and they can be the future medal winners”. Neeraj further said that he had already won the gold in Commonwealth Games and Asian Games and now the Olympics Games. “I am not going to be content with this Olympic gold”, Neeraj said. So, his next target is the World Athletics Championship 2022 in Oregon. This championship comes with considerably huge competition and it sometimes gets tougher than the Olympic Games.

In many of his interviews, Neeraj Chopra has claimed to dedicate his medal to the Indian sportspersons who also dreamt of achieving gold in the Olympics. If there is one goal every sports fanatic in India sees, it is an Olympic medal in Athletics. The pain of Milkha Singh and PT Usha’s heartbreaks has stayed in the heart of Neeraj for a long time. And the latest gold medal at the Olympics has healed the ache a little. There is a lot of talent in the country, who dreams of winning the medal on the global platform, but it declines with lack of support. However, some talents like Neeraj Chopra emerge so bright that they make the whole nation take notice of them and their sport.

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Reference:

• www.sportskeeda.com
• www.thehindu.com