Neeraj Yadav, a three-time Asian Para Games javelin throw champion, has died by suicide after consuming poison at his residence.
A postmortem examination is underway at a hospital in the national capital, reports said.
“Yes, Neeraj has died by suicide at his flat. This is extremely unfortunate and tragic. The cause behind the extreme step is yet to be ascertained,” national chief para-athletics coach S. Satyanarayana told IANS.
Neeraj hailed from Uttar Pradesh and was among the country’s accomplished para-athletes. He began his athletics career in 2015 after playing wheelchair tennis for about seven years. He went on to bag silver in the men’s shot put and discus F55 event at the Fazza Grand Prix in 2016.
During the 2018 Asian Para Games, Neeraj won a gold medal with an Asian Record of 29.84 metres. Neeraj won two gold medals at the 2022 Asian Para Games at Hangzhou, China, in October 2023, winning gold in discus throw in the F54/55/56 class and added the javelin gold in the men’s F55 category.
Also, he bagged gold at the Marrakech Para Athletics Grand Prix in Morocco in 2022, with a new Indian National record.
Notably, Neeraj was diagnosed with polio at the age of 7, while his constant companion has been his wheelchair. He started his athletics career in 2015 after playing wheelchair tennis for about seven years.
It did not take long for Neeraj to get noticed, and soon after he went on to be a part of the Indian squad. But it was a gold medal in the javelin F55 class at the Indonesia 2018 Asian Para Games that gave him his due recognition.
His saw his major breakthrough at the 2015 Delhi State Athletics Meet, where he won gold medals in the shot put, javelin and discus events.