Swirling winds could not deny Neeraj Chopra a victory in his own event, as the Indian superstar clinched the maiden Neeraj Chopra Classic with a throw of 86.18m on Saturday, July 5. Neeraj put in an incredible show, not only as an athlete but as an organiser as well, in an electrifying event at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.
A packed crowd came to the stadium to watch Neeraj and some of the top javelin stars in the world. The first-of-a-kind event gave them their money’s worth, where the athletes were forced to battle it out, not only amongst themselves but against the weather conditions as well.
It was not one and done for Neeraj Chopra on Saturday, rather, far from it. The swirling winds at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium made it difficult for Neeraj to achieve a perfect throw in his own competition. Known to stamp his authority in competitions with his very first throw, Chopra stumbled in his run-up, forcing his first throw to be ruled out.
Julius Yego, a friend and longtime competitor, walked up to him, gesturing to Chopra to calm his nerves. Yego, who understands well the pressure of carrying the hope of his country, spoke to him for a brief moment. The talk seemed to do the trick in the second round, where Neeraj threw a terrific distance of 82.33m, taking the lead for a brief moment in the competition.
The Indian superstar was challenged by Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, a former fast bowler, who put in one of the best efforts of his career, throwing a distance of 84.34m, snatching the lead away from the home favourite. Neeraj saw that, and was going to have none of it.
Despite the conditions at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Neeraj came in clutch under pressure, as he mostly does, hitting a mammoth distance of 86.18m, propelling himself back into the lead in the third round of the competition.
NEERAJ DOMINATES FROM ROUND 3
After his early stumble in the first round, Neeraj Chopra dominated the competition after his 86.18m throw. The winds put a little bit of dampener on the competition as the athletes were constantly forced to switch between headwind and tailwind javelins due to the constantly changing conditions in the stadium.
Neeraj recorded 4 legal throws in his own competition, with his best one coming in Round 3. He took the win home by a comfortable margin of little over 1.5m beating his friend, veteran Julius Yego, who recorded his season best at 84.51m. Yego was the most consistent thrower in the competition today, registering 5 legal attempts on Saturday.
The surprise package of the competition was most certainly the Sri Lankan, who managed to give veterans Neeraj and Yego a competition in a tricky event.
On the day, however, the best of Rumesh and Yego were not able to keep Neeraj away from the gold medal, who put up his most consistent show in Bengaluru on Saturday.
NEERAJ CHOPRA’S BEST THROWS
x, 82.99m, 86.18m, x, 84.07m, 82.22m
Speaking after the event, Neeraj conceded that he was extremely nervous as an athlete and as an organiser, but was happy with how the event turned out. Neeraj stated in the post match interview that he hoped to add more disciplines to the event and make it a proper athletics competition, which would draw top athletes from the world every year.
TRICKY WINDS MAKE LIFE DIFFICULT
Neeraj has thrown much longer distances before, but the conditions in Bengaluru made it quite tricky for the athletes out there. German legend Thomas Rohler, had one of his throws come down sharply, almost vertically down from the sky, eliminating him from the competition.
It was evident from the number of foul throws the kind of impact the wind had on the event. There was so much swirling of the wind that by the time an athlete competed their run-up, the direction of the wind had changed inside the stadium. The main contributor to the condition was the structure of the stadium, which had 2 levels of stands bar the direction that the athletes were throwing in.
It was not just Rohler who found it tricky on the day. India’s Sahil Silwal, Rohit Yadav and Czech Republic’s Martin Konecny were eliminated from the competition as well in the first three rounds.
Neeraj also mentioned the same after the event, stating that the wind made life extremely difficult for the athletes.
At the end of six rounds of throws, Neeraj’s gold was followed by Julius Yego, and Rumesh Pathirage who won silver and bronze respectively.
Amongst the Indians it was Sachin Yadav, who impressed the most in Bengaluru, throwing a distance of 82.33, finishing in the 4th place. Sachin has already made a name for himself on the javelin circuit as the next big thing coming from the subcontinent. His 100 per cent effort in each one of his throws only fuelled that reputation as he grunted after each of his throws. Sachin, although he finished outside of the podium, would take a lot of confidence from this event, that he belongs right at the top of the pile when it comes to the javelin standards. After Neeraj, he will be the one to watch for as India build up for the LA Olympics 2028.
NEERAJ CHOPRA CLASSIC STANDINGS
Neeraj Chopra
x, 82.99m, 86.18m, x, 84.07m, 82.22m
Julius Yego
79.97m, 80.07m, 79.73m, 84.51m (SB), x, 82.45m
Rumesh Pathirage
71.19m, 81.90m, 84.34m, x, 80.10m, 77.23m
Sachin Yadav
x, 77.30m, 82.33m, x, 79.40m, 73.45m
Curtis Thompson
79.35m, 77.24m, 80.84m, x, 81.50m, x
Luiz Mauricio Da Silva
75.20m, 80.31m, x, x, x
Yashvir Singh
x, 76.20m, 79.65m, x, x, x
Cyprian Mrzygod
x, 78.46m, 79.04m, x, x, 78.80m
Eliminated after first 3 rounds
Sahil Silwal
77.48m, 75.55m, x
Rohit Yadav
77.11m, 75.28m, x
Thomas Rohler
75.85m, x, x
Martin Konecny
x, 71.99m, x