Stars give a thumbs up to Neeraj Chopra Classic, India's maiden athletics event of its kind at the global level
The NC Classic brought together some the world's best, in a one-of-a-kind night of javelin excellence. Two-time world championship winner Anderson Peters had pulled out due to an injury, but there were several other big names more than capable of filling the hole.
Kenya's Julius Yego was among the world champions on view. Nicknamed 'Mr. YouTube' for learning the sport through watching videos online, Yego was among the favourites. The soft-spoken, burly 36-year-old gave champion and tournament organiser Neeraj Chopra a run for his money with a 84.51m throw in his fourth attempt.
Yego's season best was enough to earn him second place. Yego was most pleased with the conduct of the tournament, stating that India is ready to host more world-level events.
'Thank you, Neeraj, for organising such an event. It is truly a big event,' Yego said. 'To have an event like this with a lot of fans in the stadium is something big. World Athletics might now say, 'Okay India, get ready for big things'. I look forward to India hosting many big events like this,' Yego said.
Common drive
In many ways, Yego is a trailblazer, much like Neeraj. Hailing from a country where javelin is not the most popular sport, Yego's tremendous achievements - golds in the 2015 world championship and 2014 Commonwealth games, silver in the 2016 Olympics, to name a few - has provided a huge boost to the sport in Kenya.
Yego spoke about his close relationship with Neeraj, and their common drive to bring javelin throw into the mainstream.
'When my manager informed me that Neeraj wanted me to be a part of this event, I immediately agreed because Neeraj is my friend and I will support him. We both want to make this sport very popular. India is known for cricket. Kenya is known for long-distance running. But when I won a world championship and got a silver in the Olympics, it changed everything in my country,' Yego said.
'And now Neeraj is here. He has completely changed everything with his accomplishments. Not only in India, but across the world,' Yego said.
The post-event press conference ended with Neeraj asking Yego a question. 'What are your suggestions to improve the tournament, and did you enjoy yourself?,' Neeraj asked.
To much laughter, Neeraj reminded the audience that Yego had a wonderful time in the hotel, dancing to beats from the 'dhol', a drum used in India.
Yego replied that he thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality in India. 'I think the organisation was really nice. I enjoyed every bit of this competition - the accommodation, the hotel, the security, the hospitality, the fans inside the stadium,' Yego said.
The Kenyan's only suggestion was to expand the scale of the NC Classic by adding more events.
'Maybe next year, if possible, we can have two or three events. I've seen India doing so many long jumps, triple jumps. We can have these events going on at the same time as the javelin. That will be really nice,' Yego said.
'I love the fans here. On my Instagram, I got a lot of messages from Indians. They really cheer me. I tell them, 'You have your own champion who is doing so well. We want you to push him',' Yego added.
2016 Rio Olympics champion German Thomas Rohler entered the field with a stellar reputation. His personal best of 93.90m achieved at the 2017 Doha Diamond League puts him third on the all-time list of men's javelin.
Rohler, however, is now easing his way back from a back injury. At 33, Rohler is not in his prime, and this showed at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. With a best of 75.85m on Saturday, Rohler finished 11th in a field of twelve.
The poor showing notwithstanding, Rohler enjoyed the overall experience. 'This was a landmark event for javelin. We all need to be thankful for the work that Neeraj has put into this event. We've seen how much joy all these people had in the stadium. It was almost 15,000 people in the stands coming in to cheer us for javelin spears flying far. That is a beautiful thing,' Rohler said.
The heavy crosswind made it difficult for Rohler and his rivals to record big throws. Rohler acknowledged the effect that the stiff wind had on a cool Bengaluru night, but did not offer excuses. 'The wind wasn't perfect, but the event was good. It was all about dealing with the wind. You're forced to adjust the angle of attack. From round one to six, the wind direction kept changing. So all the athletes that managed to get the javelin through the wind did better today,' Rohler said.
Rohler explained that he will take a 'step by step' approach to making a full recovery from his back injury. 'I'm just enjoying getting out there and competing. Doing everything with a slower pace has worked very well, and now it's about getting back to higher speeds,' Rohler said.
Asked what the biggest takeaway was from the NC Classic, Rohler replied, 'The friendship that we had. We all sat together - Olympic champions on one table - and ate Indian food together.'
American Curtis Thompson took his time to adjust to conditions, recording throws of 79.35m, 77.24m, 80.84m and 81.50m to take sixth place.
Like Rohler, Thompson had trouble with the wind. 'I've seen strong headwind and tailwind in the USA as well. It is just one of those things that you have to work with. It's all about tweaking small things between each throw,' Thompson said.
The 2023 Pan American Games champion stated that javelin is a growing sport in the USA, and events such as the NC Classic serves as a template on how to popularise the sport.
'I'm so happy for Neeraj to have so much support. He's done a lot so far, and he has more to accomplish in the future. I'm so glad to see so many fans out here supporting not just Neeraj but javelin as well. This will help grow our sport,' Thompson said.
The 29-year-old from New Jersey had a ready answer when asked if he would like to return for another NC Classic. 'Yes, most definitely,' Thompson said.
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