The first edition of Neeraj Chopra’s Javelin Throw edition on May 24 was moved from Panchkula to Bengaluru due to inadequate lighting at the place of origin for live television, but the field will be full of stars like Anderson Peters and Thomas Rohler confirmed their participation. Peters, originally from Grenada, is a double world champion and Rohler is the gold medallic of the 2016 Olympic Games. Chopra said that he also invited the Pakistani Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem who has not yet confirmed participation.
“I sent the invitation to Arshad and he said that he would come back to me after discussing his coach. He has not yet confirmed participation,” Chopra told journalists in virtual media interaction on Monday.
The competition obtained category A status by World Athletics, which has also changed the place of the event on its calendar.
“I wanted the event in Panchkula, but there are certain problems related to lighting (projection) at the stadium.
“So, for this year, we decided to move the event to the Kanteerava stadium in Bengaluru. I spoke to the chief minister of Karnataka. We have the JSW team there to take care of all the aspects to organize the event successfully. I feel evening time in Bengaluru would be perfect for the event, for athletes and fans,” said Chopra.
“Our effort is to give the best experience to fans and the best hospitality to foreign participants,” said the 27 -year -old who is also supported by JSW Sports, based in Bengaluru.
The event will be organized jointly by Chopra and JSW Sports in collaboration with the Federation of India athletics (AFI) and world athletics, featuring the best world and Indian javelin launchers.
“I am very involved in the organization of the event. It is a long -standing dream for me to organize this type of event in India. It is a true dream for me,” said the village of Khandra of Haryana who became the first gold winner of the Indian Athletic at the Olympic Games in Tokyo before adding money to Paris.
“I am very excited. I have won Olympic and others for the country. Now, with this event, I give something to Indian athletics, Indian athletes and fans.” In addition to Peters, who also won a bronze medal at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, and Rohler, the participation of the Kenyan Julius Yego, a silver medalist at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in addition to being a 2015 world championship, and an American Curtis Thompson, who is the leader of the current season with 87.76m, was also confirmed.
“Some other European athletes will be added. A Brazilian, who qualified for the final of (Paris Olympic Games), also confirmed participation,” said Chopra without giving the name, although Luiz Da Silva, who finished 11th in Paris with a better launch of 80.67 m.
“I am also in competition. Three to four Indians will be in competition, I spoke to Rohit (Yadav) yesterday. It will be a very good opportunity for the Indians to obtain ranking points for the World Championships in Tokyo (in September).” He said his current coach Jan Zelezny, the legendary world record holder, suggested that the event should be appointed according to the Indian superstar.
“I was talking to Zelezny about this event and he said that it would be good if he was named in my opinion. I was also inspired by certain events organized by famous athletes and themselves participating like Mondo Classic and Kip Keino Classic,” he said.
Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi is named after Kenyan legend at a distance Kipchoge Keino while the legend of the Armando Duplantis jumps of Sweden organizes Mondo Classic, the two world events of continental athletics.
Chopra said the NC Classic would be an annual competition and that it hopes that events other than javelin will be added in the future.
“I wanted to say that this event will be an annual affair. For the moment, it will only be an event in javelin for men. But in the future, I hope that other events will also be added.
“We (India) are good in long jump (men and women), 3000m steeplechase, and we can add these events in the future. The 100m of men is doing well, the timing is getting better and better.
“It was a surprise for me that this event made a World Athletics category. We will try to organize a meeting of the Diamond League in India. We have the stadium to welcome DL meetings, and it will be good for global athletics also to disseminate athletics. World athletics knows that athletics grows in India.” Fans will have to buy tickets to watch the NC Classic Javelin event.
“There will be tickets for the event, different prices for different seats and blocks. But we will try that the ticket price is not too much. Fans should feel that the ticket price is worth watching the event,” said Chopra.
Chopra began its season at the top by winning the Potch Invitational Track event in Potchefstroom, in South Africa, on April 16 with an 84.52 m throw.
His next event will be the Diamond League meetings doha on May 16.
“I have never entered such details that the spotlights are sufficient for live television, that the toilets and changing rooms are comfortable for international javelin launchers, etc. I have never considered such things by playing,” said Chopra on her involvement in the organization of the event.
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