Bhubaneswar, known as the Temple City, is gradually turning into an international sports hub. While the city has already hosted a number of international sporting events successfully in the past few years, it is now gearing up to host the first-of-its-kind sports literary festival in Asia titled ‘Ekamra Sports Literary Festival’ – a mega event jointly origanised by the Odisha government and Emerging Sports November 2-3. It is expected that the event will usher in a new era in the sports history of the state as well as the country.
When we talk about track and field athletics and dream of an Olympics medal, we hardly find anyone in India who has the ability to fulfill the most cherished dream of the nation. Fortunately, India has lately discovered a few talented youngsters who can deliver at the mega stage.
Neeraj Chopra is one such sportsperson. Hi’s previous coach Garry Calvert has described him a ‘Once-in-a-generation talent’. According to the former World Championship bronze medallist Anju Bobby George, Neeraj is ‘The most promising young Indian athlete today whose best performances are yet to come’.
It is not often that a young Indian track and field athlete enjoys such a ringing endorsement, but then it is also not often that someone like Chopra comes along. Yes …the star javelin thrower will be a part of the ESLF.
Javelin throwers tend to get better with age, far into their 20s and early 30s. It is here that Chopra’s talent becomes abundantly clear when one compares the distances of his throws to what elite athletes were registering at the age of 20.
The Haryana lad created history when he secured a gold medal at the Jakarta Asian Games with a national record of 88.06m. The javelin thrower, who also bagged the yellow metal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games earlier this year, will grace the stage with his coach Uwe Hohn, who is a former champion himself.
His training regimen turned world-class when he went to Offenberg, the ‘javelin capital of the world’, in Germany. Now, he has set his sights on crossing the magical 90m mark at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 with a minor throw adjustment.
Chopra hogged the limelight when he set a world record at the junior stage. He grabbed the gold with a record throw of 86.48m at the 2016 IAAF World U-20 Championships.
Neeraj, who is a Junior Commissioned Officer of the Indian Army in the rank of Naib Subedar since 2016, won a gold medal at the 2016 South Asian Games with a throw of 82.23 m, where he equalled the Indian national record before his U-20 World Championship feat.
In spite of these performances, he failed to qualify for the 2016 Rio Games because of the cutoff date, which was taken into account before his World Championship feat. However, it was not the end of road for the Panipat lad as he secured another gold medal at the Bhubaneswar Asian Athletic Championships in 2017 with a throw of 85.23m.
Neeraj registered a season best effort of 86.47m at the Gold Coast CWG. With that, Chopra not only joined an elite list of Indian athletes to win a gold medal on their Commonwealth Games debut, but also became the first Indian to triumph in javelin throw at the CWG. However, it was the 88.06m throw in Jakarta which became the talking point around the world.
The city would be eager to get a glimpse of a star of such caliber when he shares the stage with his coach Uwe on the final day of the Ekamra Sports Literary Festival.