Neeraj Chopra's phenomenal show at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics ensured that he secured 14 places in the world rankings. Neeraj, who won gold in the javelin throw, India's first medal in track and field, currently ranks second with 1,315 points. Germany's Johannes Witter, who missed a medal at the Olympics, continues to lead with a score of 1,396. Before the current ranking was revealed, Neeraj was ranked 16th in the world. At the Tokyo Games, Neeraj threw 87.58 meter to take gold and became India's second individual gold medalist at the Olympics.While strong favorite Vetter finished ninth in the final, Neeraj threw better than two athletes from the Czech Republic to finish on the podium. Jakob Vadlejch took silver with a best time of 86.67 meters, and former world champion Vitezslav Vesely won bronze with a throw of 85.44 meters. "It's an incredible feeling. It's the first time India has won a gold medal in athletics, so I feel great. We only have one gold in other sports. Milka Singh wanted to hear the national anthem in a stadium. He is no longer with us but his dream has been fulfilled."Neeraj said after his historic victory.Also Read: Billion-dollar online gaming industry seeks clarity on valuation, taxation
Sumit Antil, who has participated in able-bodied events including the Indian Grand Prix, said his goal is to qualify for both the Paralympic Games and the Olympics in 2024 and he will begin his training once he returns to India. Indian javelin thrower Sumit Antel now wants to compete against able-bodied athletes at the Paris Olympics three years from now. The 23-year-old from Sonipat shown his impressive performance on Monday when he broke his own world record not once but five times to take gold in the men's F64 javelin with a throw of 68.55 meters. Antel, who has participated in able-bodied events including the Indian Grand Prix, said his goal is to qualify for both the Paralympic Games and the Olympics in 2024 and will begin his training once he returns to the country. During my training, I have been touching the 70m-mark. And I dream of throwing between 75 to 80m and that should be enough to compete amongst the able-bodied athletes. “I wish to take part in both the Olympics and Paralympics. That’s my dream,” Antil, who lost his left leg below the knee after he was involved in a motorbike accident in 2015, said in a release issued by Paralympic Committee of India (PCI). “Once I return from Tokyo, I will be training for that for sure,” he added. If Sumit is allowed to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics, he will compete against countryman Neeraj Chopra, who recently won gold medal in men's javelin throw at the Tokyo Olympics. Interestingly, as the son of a JWO officer in the Indian Army, Antel competed against Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra in the able-bodied 3rd series of the Indian Grand Prix on March 5 at Patiala, where he finished seventh with a best throw of 66.43 meters. On Tuesday, Antel broke the previous world record of 62.88 meters, which is also set by him, five times a day. His last throw was a foul. His series read 66.95, 68.08, 65.27, 66.71, 68.55 and foul.Also Read- Shooter Avani Lekhara First Indian Woman To Win Gold At Paralympics"At the 2019 World Para-Athletics Championships, I settled for silver. I always wanted to win the gold medal," said Antel, who was inspired by Neeraj Chopra medal show. "My coach told me to be aggressive at the Paralympic Games. I'm glad I was able to finally come out with a good performance and inspire the upcoming generation." It was very hot and humid that day in Tokyo, but Antil never looked bothered. "During the pandemic, I got special permission from the Sports Authority of India to train at home. I was prepared for all conditions - hot and humid. I trained late at night and this paid off well," said Antel, who hails from Sonepat. The Haryana athlete now hopes that Paralympic gold will give him a job once he returns to India. "Currently, I am unemployed and I am doing full-time training but I hope to get a job after this. Let's see what happens when I return to India," he signed off.Also Read- US Open 2021: Naomi Osaka kicks off title defence with straight sets win over Marie Bouzkova
An unprecedented 11 sportspersons have been recommended for this year's rechristened Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna by the national sports award's selection committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Mukundakum Sharma. This is the first time that many names have been recommended for a single edition of the Awards Ceremony. Last year, the government honored a total of 74 athletes with the National Sports and Adventure Awards in different segments. The awardees included five in the Khel Ratna category and 27 for Arjuna. This year, a total of 72 names have been recommended for the Khel Ratna, Arjuna (35), Dhyan Chand, Dronacharya (regular) and Dronacharya (lifetime). The list doesn't include names of athletes, corporates and sports promotion boards and top-performing universities recommended for the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar (RKPP), Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) trophy and Tenzing Norgay award. Among those who have been recommended for the Khel Ratna - India's highest sporting honour - include tokyo olympics gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, silver-winning men's freestyle wrestler Ravi Dahiya, Tokyo olympics bronze medallist woman welterweight boxer Lovlina Borgohain and men's hockey team's goalkeeper P R Sreejesh. Five para-athletes, who created history by winning gold each at the Tokyo Paralympics, have also been nominated for the Khel Ratna. These include Pramod Bhagat (para-badminton), Sumit Antil (para-javelin), Avani Lekhara (para-shooting), Krishna Nagar (para-badminton) and Manish Narwal (para-shooting).KHEL RATNA: Neeraj Chopra (athletics), Ravi Dahiya (wrestling), PR Sreejesh (hockey), Lovlina Borgohain (boxing in olympics), Sunil Chhetri (football), Mithali Raj (cricket), Pramod Bhagat (parabadminton), Sumit Antil (para- javelin), Avani Lekhara (para-shooting), Krishna Nagar (para-badminton) and Manish Narwal (para-shooting).ARJUNA AWARD: Arpinder Singh (triple jump), Simranjit Kaur (boxing), Shikhar Dhawan (cricket), Bhavani Devi (fencing), Monika (hockey), Vandana Katariya (hockey), Sandeep Narwal (kabaddi), Himani Uttam Parab (mallakhamb) ), Abhishek Verma (shooting), Ankita Raina (tennis), Deepak Punia (wrestling), Dilpreet Singh (hockey), Harmanpreet Singh (hockey), Rupinder Pal Singh (hockey), Surendra Kumar (hockey), Amit Rohidas (hockey) , Birendra Lakra (hockey), Sumit (hockey), Nilakanta Sharma (hockey), Hardik Singh (hockey), Vivek Sagar Prasad (hockey), Gurjant Singh (hockey), Mandeep Singh (hockey), Shamsher Singh (hockey), Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (hockey), Varun Kumar (hockey), Simranjeet Singh (hockey), Yogesh Kathuniya (para-athletics), Nishad Kumar (para-athletics), Praveen Kumar (para-athletics), Suhash Yathiraj (para-badminton), Singhraj Adhana (parashooting), Bhavina Patel (paratable tennis), Harvinder Singh (para-archery) and Sharad Kumar (para-athletics).DHYANCHAND AWARD: OP Jaisha (athletics), Divya Singh (basketball), KC Lekha (boxing), Abhijeet Kunte (chess), Davinder Singh Garcha (hockey), Vikas Kumar (kabaddi), Nir Bahadur Gurung (para sports athletics), PS Abdul Rassak (volleyball) and Sajjan Singh (wrestling) DRONACHARYA (REGULAR): Jai Prakash Nautiyal (para-shooting), Mahaveer Prasad Saini (para-athletics), Pritam Siwach (hockey), Radhakrishnan Nair (athletics), Sandeep Sangwan (hockey) ), Sandhya Gurung (boxing), Sujeet Maan (wrestling) and Subramanian Raman (table tennis).DRONACHARYA (LIFETIME): Ashan Kuamr (kabaddi), Bhaskar Chandra Bhatt (hockey), CR Kumar (hockey), Jagrup Rathi (wrestling), S Muralidharan (badminton), Sarkar Talwar (sports cricket), Sarpal Singh (hockey), Tapan Kumar Panigrahi (swimming) and TP Ouseph (athletics).Also Read- Afghanistan Captain Mohammad Nabi before PC: 5 minute mei English Khatam Ho Jayegi
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have rewarded Olympic Gold medalist Neeraj Chopra with Rs 1 crore for his remarkable achievement- winning gold in the javelin throw at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings also presented a special jersey with the number 8758 (highlighting his medal-winning effort of 87.58m) as a mark of respect rewards declared for neeraj chopra, who joined Abhinav Bindra as only the second individual gold medalist in the sports olympics. "The entire nation is proud of Neeraj for his stupendous achievement. By becoming the first Indian to win a medal (gold) in the track and field, he has set a benchmark and is an inspiration for the next generation. 87.58 is a number that will forever be etched in Indian sporting history and it`s an honour for us to present this special jersey to Neeraj. We wish he brings more glory to the nation," CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan said in an official statement.The one with the Golden boy @Neeraj_chopra1 ! Super happy to hand our to the arms that made us proud!Read : https://t.co/qiiw18aLH6#WhistlePodu #Yellove pic.twitter.com/rMpHwWD2F7— Chennai Super Kings - Mask Pdu Whistle Pdu! (@ChennaiIPL) October 31, 2021The 23-year-old athlete, after receiving the award and special jersey, mentioned that the past two months have been an opportunity for him to experience new things and also thanked the Super Kings management for the support. "Thank you so much for your support and for the prize. It feels good. The last two months have been hectic and an opportunity to experience new things. I never thought that I`ll get so much love after winning gold. It was completely unexpected and it feels good. Hopefully, I`ll work hard and get good results," Chopra said. Meanwhile, automaker Mahindra today handed over the keys of the limited-edition Mahindra XUV700 Javelin Gold Edition model to Neeraj Chopra, who won Gold at the Javelin competition at the Tokyo Olympic 2021. Neeraj Chopra shared the photograph of the SUV on his social media handles. Thank you @anandmahindra ji for the new set of wheels with some very special customisation! I'm looking forward to taking the car out for a spin very soon. pic.twitter.com/doNwgOPogp— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) October 30, 2021The automaker had previously handed over the keys of the same model to Sumit Antil, Gold medal winner for F64 Men's javelin throw at the recently concluded Paralympics 2021. Mahindra handed over the keys to the special edition XUV700 to mark the occasion of the commencement of the deliveries of the new SUV from October 30. The Mahindra XUV700 Gold Edition is designed by Pratap Bose, EVP and Chief Design Officer, M&M and is a custom-made version of the newly launched XUV700 that won the SUV of the Year and Car of the Year categories at the inaugural Zee Auto Awards 2021.Also Read- Attacking Someone Over Religion Is Most Pathetic: Kohli backs Shami
Neeraj Chopra finished 2nd in the Stockholm DL with an 89.94m throwNeeraj broke his own national record of 89.30m set earlier in June in FinlandThis is the first time Neeraj finished in the top 3 in a Diamond League eventNeeraj Chopra returned to the Diamond League for the first time in 4 years by breaking his own national record for the second time in a month. Neeraj finished second with a big throw of 89.94 meters in the Stockholm Diamond League on Thursday, June 30.Tokyo Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra nearly accomplished his 90-meter javelin mission in his first attempt at the Diamond League on Friday.Neeraj Chopra finished second behind defending champion Anderson Peters, who won the competition with the best throw of 90.31 meters.It was an impressive 6-pitch series for Neeraj Chopra who finished third in the Diamond League for the first time: 89.94m, 84.37m, 87.46m, 84.77m, 86, 67m, and 86.84m.Neeraj started the event with a new meet record, a new national record, and her personal best of 89.94 meters. However, world champion Peters did better by this point on his third attempt.German Julian Weber finished third with a throw of 89.08 meters, while Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Jacob Waldijsch finished fourth with a best effort of 88.59 meters.Neeraj participated in 3 Diamond League matches in 2017 and 4 in 2018 and finished fourth twice. The gathering was the largest in the Swedish capital ahead of the World Championships and Commonwealth Games in July.Neeraj has been in perfect shape since returning to the competition earlier this month. The Olympic champion from Tokyo took time to improve his fitness and preparations before returning and began throwing his star javelin ahead of the world championships that begin on July 15 in Eugene, weeks before he is due to attend the Olympics. The Commonwealth of Birmingham is in full swing.Neeraj returned to play on June 14 with a throw of 89.30 meters, setting a new national record at the Pavo Nurmi Games, a continental tour event in Turku, Finland. In doing so, he broke his previous record of 88.07 meters from 2021.After 3 days, he finished top of the podium after avoiding slippery conditions at the Curtin Games with the best throw of 86.69 meters.Also Read -
