Indian Athletics to mark National Javelin Day on August 7 to celebrate Neeraj’s Olympic gold

AFI Media

 

New Delhi, August 5: Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and its affiliated units are all set to celebrate National Javelin Day across the country on Sunday to commemorate one of the greatest moments in India’s sporting history, Neeraj Chopra’s Olympic Games gold medal.  

It was on August 7 last year that Neeraj produced the 87.58m effort in Tokyo to earn India’s first track and field medal in the Olympic Games.

The decision to celebrate August 7 as the National Javelin Day was made by AFI upon Neeraj Chopra’s return from Tokyo. He has now added a World Championships Silver last month. “Apart from celebrating Neeraj’s feat, AFI will also promote the sport at the grassroots level through this initiative,” AFI President Adille J. Sumariwalla said.

The 24-year-old Neeraj Chopra said he felt honoured that AFI has taken this initiative of organising Javelin competitions throughout the country on August7. “I request young athletes from all over India to take up the sport of Javelin Throw so we can have more champions in future,” he said. 

As many as 32 States and Union Territories units affiliated to AFI will organise Javelin competitions on August 7.