The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) celebrated 7th August as the National Javelin Day across India to commemorate Neeraj Chopra’s 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medal.
- On 7th August 2021, Neeraj Chopra won the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in track and field and became the 1st athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in men’s javelin throw.
- The year 2022 was the first National Javelin Day and the AFI decided to celebrate this day every year since 2022.
National Javelin Day:
i.Background – The decision to celebrate 7th August as National Javelin Day was made by AFI upon Neeraj Chopra’s return from Tokyo with the Gold medal in 2021.
ii.Apart from his commemoration, AFI will also promote the javelin sport at the grassroots level through this initiative.
- As many as 32 states and Union Territories (UTs) that are affiliated with AFI will organise competitions on 7th August every year.
About Neeraj Chopra:
i.Neeraj Chopra was born on 24th December 1997 in Panipat, Haryana and had entered into sports when he was 23 years old.
ii.He is the 2nd Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal after Abhinav Bindra (Shooter), who won gold medal in 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
- He had recently won the World Championships silver medal in July 2022.
iii.Awards – In 2018, Neeraj Chopra was conferred with the Arjuna Award and in 2020, he was awarded with the Vishist Seva Medal (VSM) for his excellence in sports.
Achievements:
i.By the end of 2012, Neeraj Chopra became the U-16 national champion and in 2014, he won the first-ever international medal (silver) in the Youth Olympics Qualification in Bangkok.
ii.In 2015, he received his first medal in a national senior championship during the Inter-State event held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
iii.In 2016, he bagged a gold medal at the South Asian Games in Guwahati and was offered a direct appointment as a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Rajputana Rifles with the rank of ‘Naib Subedar’ in 2017.
iv.In 2018, he won the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games and in 2019 he won gold at the Asian Games.
About Athletics Federation of India (AFI):
President – Adille J Sumariwalla
Establishment – 1946
Headquarters – New Delhi, Delhi
