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Trained at Panchkula Athletics Nursery, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra wins gold in IAAF World U-20 Championships

Neeraj Chopra had started the sport on seeing some of his village seniors and joined the Athletics Nursery in Panchkula in 2011.

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Neeraj Chopra equalled the national record in senior category when he made a throw of 82.23 M in the South Asian Games. (PTI)

FIVE YEARS ago, when young Neeraj Chopra accompanied one of his uncles to the Athletics Nursery at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Panchkula, the athlete wanted to train in better facilities as compared to his village — Khandra — near Panipat. Chopra would spend the next four years at the stadium practising under coach Naseem Ahmed. And on Saturday, the 18-year-old Haryana athlete became the only Indian athlete to win a gold medal at the world level when he made a new U-20 world record of 86.48 M in the men’s javelin throw event in the IAAF World U-20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

“It’s the best throw ever by me and I had put all my effort into the second throw. I have been training for the last one year at the national camp and have also been training under Australian coach Garry Calvert. I practised hard at Panchkula Athletics Nursery at Tau Devi Lal Stadium and my seniors at the nursery too used to help me a lot. This medal is due to all the hard work done with the coaches and seniors at the nursery apart from coaches at national camp,” said Chopra, who has also appeared for BA-I exams at DAV College, Sector 10, Chandigarh.

The youngster had started the sport on seeing some of his village seniors and joined the Athletics Nursery in Panchkula in 2011. The following year saw him make a new junior national record in the Junior Nationals Championship at Lucknow in 2012. Chopra then made new U-18 national record at Vijaywada with a throw of 68.4 M before winning the gold medals in Federation Cup and senior nationals last year.

Earlier this year, Chopra equalled the national record in senior category when he made a throw of 82.23 M in the South Asian Games, where he also fell short by 77 cm from the Rio qualification mark. “When he came to us, he was very healthy and his uncle told us that make him fit and train. And he would train for hours here. Initially he started with 600 grams javelin in the U-16 category and he made a national record in that category too in 2012. Later, he started training with 700 grams javelin and also made the U-18 record. He would stay at the hostel and would train for six hours daily with other trainees like Parminder. It was heart-breaking for him when he equalled the national record but missed the Rio Olympics mark in SAF Games,” said coach Naseem Ahmed.

“And this time, Rio Olympics qualification ended on July 11. But he will be one of the best young and senior athletes in the world in the coming years,” added the coach.

The youngster has been part of the national camp at Patiala for the last one year. Last year has also seen the closing of the athletics nursery at the Panchkula stadium and coach Ahmed believes that it is hurting the region’s players. More than 20 trainees used to train at the nursery before the Haryana government stopped the nursery last year.

“Most of the trainees here made a mark at the national as well as international level. But then the athletics nursery was stopped. Haryana government should also offer jobs to such athletes at the earliest,” said the coach.