Neeraj Chopra to compete in national events first time since Tokyo Olympics

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], May 14 (ANI): Ace Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra will be competing in the final of the men's javelin throw final of the Federation Cup 2024 athletics meet at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha on Wednesday, marking his first appearance at the national-level event since his gold medal at Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Neeraj and Kishore Jena, two athletes with Paris 2024 Olympics quotas, will not compete in the qualification rounds on Tuesday, as per Olympics.com.
All nine javelin throwers who previously touched the 75m mark in their career will get the privilege of competing directly in the final. The remaining 15 contestants will be in action in Tuesday's qualifiers, out of which, the top three will advance to the final.
Neeraj missed the domestic competitions in 2022 and 2023 either because of injuries or training in foreign countries for big competitions like the World Athletics Championships or Asian Games. His previous outing in a national event was 2021 Federation Cup in March. He bagged the gold with a throw of 87.80m back then.
A two-time Asian Games gold medallist and a CWG gold medallist as well, Neeraj Chopra will be competing in his second competition of the 2024 outdoor athletics season. He started his season at the Doha Diamond League last week, finishing second with a throw of 88.36m.
Asian Athletics Championships silver medallist DP Manu will also compete directly in the finals. Former Asian Athletics Championships silver medallist Shivpal Singh will also be in action in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.
Also, Pramod, Rohit Kumar, Uttam Patil, Kunwer Singh Rana and Manjinder Singh are the other five athletes given a direct berth into the men's javelin throw final at the Federation Cup 2024 in Bhubaneswar.(ANI)