Neeraj Chopra Classic: Arshad Nadeem invited; venue changed from Panchkula to Bengaluru
Neeraj Chopra Classic: Arshad Nadeem invited; venue changed from Panchkula to Bengaluru
Neeraj Chopra might have accomplished almost all there is in international athletics. He’s won gold medals at the Olympics, World Championships, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Games, and has been a Diamond League champion. Yet, he says that the ability to bring an international world-class competition to India will be one of his biggest legacies.
“After I’d won gold medals at the World Championships or the Olympics, people used to ask what was next for me. These were all dreams that got fulfilled and then, I had to see what was next. But all the medals that I won are going to be in my house. This (The fact that India will be conducting the Neeraj Classic event) is the first time that I feel I’ve given something back to India, Indian athletics and its athletes,” Neeraj said during a virtual press conference.
Neeraj also announced that the Neeraj Chopra Classic, which was originally scheduled to be held in Panchkula on May 24, has been shifted to the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on the same date because of an issue with the stadium floodlights in the former. While Chopra was hopeful of being able to compete at the same stadium where he trained as a youngster, he admits Bengaluru will be relatively cooler to compete in late May when temperatures in North India will be well above 40 degrees.
Neeraj added that the competition would feature two-time World Champion Anderson Peters, Olympic Champion Thomas Roehler, Olympic silver medallist Julius Yego and world leader Curtis Thompson. Chopra added that while he had invited Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, the reigning Olympic champion, he had not got the latter’s confirmation for competing in India. “I have, of course, spoken to Arshad. He has said he will need to discus this with his coach. But it’s not just Arshad. I’ve reached out to all the top javelin throwers in the world to come and compete at this competition. And I, of course, will also be competing!,” Neeraj said.
The Tokyo Olympics champion said it had been his dream for an international standard event to be held in India. “Its been a long dream of mine. When I would go out (as an athlete) for competitions like the Diamond League, I’d see such nice events. I’d see how people would support the players. I used to enjoy watching all of that. I knew that even if people wanted to watch these competitions on TV, it would be broadcast very late into the night in India. I used to wonder if we could have world-class events in India where the public could come and watch as well,” he says
While he had been thinking of an event being held in India for many years, he admits the fact that he was going to host and give his own name to such a competition came as a surprise to him. “In the past, I was just hoping there would be a competition like this but I never thought I was going to be the one who would bring it to India. I was inspired by many athletes who had done this. (Two-time Olympic champion) Mondo Duplantis has also given his name to a competition (Mondo Classic) and even my coach (three-time Olympic javelin champion) Jan Zelezny said it would be great if there is an event in my name,” he says.
Being not just a competitor but also the host of an elite competition comes with its own unique challenges. “I’ve learned a lot of things. I used to just go and compete. I didn’t know there’s some lighting requirement for international TV channels. One of the requirements (to host a IAAF gold event) is having floodlights with a rating of 60000 lux. Panchkula didn’t have it and I had no idea about that. I’m now seeing if the washrooms and the gyms are okay. Is the food, grass and track good? What are the changing rooms like? How do we get more people to watch? How do we celebrate when someone throws over 85m? How do we decorate the place? I’d never thought about any of this and now I have to!” he says.
While this might be expected to impact his focus as an athlete, Neeraj says he’s up for the challenge even if he’s delegated some of the responsibility to others. “At the start, when the competition was supposed to be held in Panchkula, I was talking daily with the Haryana government. But now that it has shifted to Bangalore, the JSW guys are handling it. They are host to the BFC team. So, I can take things a little easier. Earlier, when it was supposed to be happening in Haryana, I was taking a bigger role. It’s a little challenging but I am enjoying this. Earlier, I was thinking only about training. But now, I’m opening up. I’m getting out of my comfort zone and going ahead with this. Since it’s my dream, I give ideas as well,” he says.
According to Neeraj, one purpose of this competition is to help Indian athletes. “We have throwers like Anderson Peters, Thomas Roehler, Julius Yego, and Curtis Thompson who have confirmed. There will be three or four Indian athletes who will be competing among them too. It will be good for Indian athletes because it’s a gold level competition. So, it will give lot of points to qualify for the Worlds,” he says.
But Neeraj adds that his main goal is to make world-class competition accessible to Indians – both athletes and spectators. Indeed, while the first year of the competition will see only a men’s javelin throw competition, he hopes to expand the list of events in subsequent years. “We will try to add the other events in which we are good like the long jump and maybe the sprints. I want our athletes to be able to open up and perform amongst world-class athletes in front of a home crowd. But I also want people to see how hard elite competition is. It’s one thing to see it on TV but I want them to see in person how people jump and throw. I want them to see how much impact there is on the body. With this, people will follow track and field a lot more,” he says.
