World champion Chopra hopes to spark a javelin revolution in India

Sachin Yadav looked understandably awed sitting next to three Olympic medal winning javelin throwers in Neeraj Chopra, Thomas Rohler and Julius Yego but his mere presence on that glittering dais holds a deeper significance to it.

- Press Trust of India

It was a feverish representation of Chopra’s dream of turning javelin into a household sport across the nation. In that context, the Neeraj Chopra Classic here on Saturday could be India's equivalent to Mondo Classic, a gala pole vault event hosted by world record holder and Olympic champion Armando Dulpantis in his hometown Uppsala, Sweden. Duplantis is also driven by his unquenchable drive to break his own world records, and he has done it 15 times so far, but Chopra has wider ambitions. Chopra underlined that thought of inspiring the next line of Indian javelin throwers.

“First of all, I want to thank you, Julius, Thomas and everyone else from the heart of India. All are good friends of mine and thank you so much for coming. Finally, we are sitting here with such great throwers. I am very happy that such an event is happening in India,” Chopra momentarily appeared emotional.