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Neeraj Chopra Classic first impressions: '15,000 people came to cheer', former Olympic and world champions react
The top athletes including former Olympic and world champions who flew down to India on Neeraj Chopra's request for India's first-ever World Athletics Continental Tour Gold-Level event in Bengaluru left the country highly impressed, feeling loved and asking for more.
The inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025 at the Sri Kanteerava stadium in Bengaluru on 5 July was a watershed moment for Indian athletics in many ways. The one-day javelin throw event, named after the two-time Olympic medallist and co-organiser Neeraj, witnessed a massive outpouring of love from locals as 14,593 fans turned up to the stadium – an unbelievable statistic for an athletics event in the country.
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They were greeted by some thrilling javelin throw action as 2023 world champion, Neeraj clinched the top spot with a strong 86.18m throw in difficult windy conditions. Kenya's Julius Yego, the 2015 world champion and Rio Games silver medallist, came second with an 84.51m throw and Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage took the third spot with a best effort of 84.34m.
Also Read | Bengaluru witnesses home champion Neeraj's class and rare athletics celebration
2016 Olympic champion Thomas Rohler of Germany, one of the biggest names in the 12-man field, had a tough night, finishing 11th with a best attempt of 75.85m.
Rohler, Yego praise Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025
That, however, didn't spoil his mood as he was happy to see thousands of fans on the ground.
'I think we all need to be thankful for the work and the power that Neeraj put into this event. We've seen how much joy all these people had in the stadium,' Rohler, who has struggled with back injuries over the years, said. 'I mean, we were seeing one event today, not the whole track and field, just javelin. And there were almost 15,000 people coming to cheer for sticks flying far. That is a beautiful thing.'
Asked about what would be his recommendation regarding the event to other European athletes, Rohler said: 'The experience was very good. I think that the competition, the friendship that we had, we sat together, Olympic champions at one table, had Indian food together. It was just the overall experience. Thank you guys.'
Thomas Rohler praised Neeraj Chopra for making the event possible. Image: Reuters
Yego, silver medallist in the 2016 Summer Games, felt that after a successful start, more events could be added to the NC Classic in the next edition.
'The organisation was really nice. I enjoyed every bit of this competition. The accommodation, the hotel, everything was really nice, you know, the security. Maybe next year if possible we can have maybe two events or three events. It's fine because I've seen India doing so many in the long jump, in the triple jump. So we can have the same events going at the same time,' Yego, known as 'Mr YouTube' for learning the sport by watching videos, said.
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'I've enjoyed it, I love the fans. Every other time on my Instagram I get a lot of messages from the Indians. They really cheer me and sometimes I tell them, you have your own champion who is doing so well and I say, yeah, we want you to push him and today I tried to push him.'
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