Javelin throwing competition every year on August 7 in honour of Neeraj Chopra

Lalit Bhanot, the Chairman of Athletics Federation of India’s Planning Committee, on Tuesday said they will stage javelin throwing competitions every year on August 7. Neeraj Chopra clinched historic gold medal with the best throw of 87.58 in the men’s javelin final.

Lalit Bhanot, the Chairman of Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) Planning Committee, on Tuesday said they will stage javelin throwing competitions every year on August 7.

“Athletics Federation of India’s planning committee has decided to further promote javelin throwing and will hold competitions every year throughout the country on August 7 as Neeraj Chopra won the gold in Tokyo on this day,” Bhanot said in a felicitation program organised for Neeraj Chopra by the AFI.

India’s long and agonising wait for a first Olympic athletics gold medal ended on August 7 when Neeraj Chopra, the son of a farmer, won the men’s javelin at the Tokyo Games.

It took just one throw on a balmy Tokyo night from the 22-year-old to start the world’s second-most populous country dreaming of an end to the years of pain.

His javelin flew into the bright lights of the stadium and landed after covering a distance of 87.03 metres – enough to give him the lead.