Shivam Lokhare trades fast bikes for big throws, becomes latest Indian javelin thrower to cross 80m

The Hindu

a day ago

Like a lot of young men his age, Shivam Lokhare has a need for speed and a thing for fast bikes. So, when he got his first job last year – he was recruited by the Indian Army as a sportsman -- the 20-year-old decided to splurge on a KTM Duke 390 sports motorcycle. 'I have always loved bikes and I love driving fast. I actually justified getting it because it helped me travel and I did drive that bike everywhere. But my main purpose was to drive fast and once I even took it to 170kmph,' he says.
Yet in January this year, just six months after he'd bought his dream bike, Shivam decided to sell it. With part of the money from the sale, he made another high-tech purchase – but this one was a sign of his changed priorities. 'I took 80,000 rupees from the bike's sale and I bought my first Nordic Valhalla javelin,' Shivam tells Sportstar.
The reason for his choice was simple. 'I had decided at the end of last year that I wanted to focus entirely on my javelin throw career. That meant that I had to get rid of all my distractions. I stopped going out and hanging out with friends. But the hardest thing to do was getting rid of my bike. But it was ok. Mujhe bas throw marna tha (I only wanted to make a big throw) ' he says.
It's a choice that takes Shivam into the record books. Competing at the Indian Open in Pune's Savitribai Phule college ground on Saturday evening, Shivam's spear streaked into the sky and landed 80.95m in his final attempt of the event.
Thanks to the explosion of talent in Indian javelin throws in the last few years, an 80m throw might no longer be as momentous a landmark as it once was – Shivam is now the 16th Indian thrower to cross that mark (eight of them breached it in the last three years). However, at 20-years-old, he's the second youngest on that list, only behind Tokyo Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra (who was only 18 when he made his first 80m throw).
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He might be the latest entrant on that 80m list but Shivam doesn't want to just be seen as a javelin prospect. 'In one way I am happy that I got my best throw of the competition but on the other hand I felt I could have made a bigger throw also. I have made a throw of 84 meters in training already and I've been consistently throwing in the 80-82 meter range. So I thought I could get that much in competition. But at the same time I know I have to do more,' he says.
Growing his own javelins
Shivam's ambitions weren't always this big. Growing up in Sonai, a village some 50 kilometers from Ahmadnagar in central Maharashtra, Shivam says he had very little idea about the javelin or even Neeraj Chopra growing up. 'My parents are farmers and there's no sports infrastructure where I'm from. I grew up playing kho kho and kabaddi. I didn't even know about athletics until my sixth class when a PT Teacher saw that I was tall and well built for my age and suggested I take up sport,' he says.
He originally started out as a long jumper before his teacher suggested he try the javelin. But there was no carbon fiber Valhalla back then. Even cheap wooden javelins were unavailable. Instead, on his teacher's advice, Shivam started off using bamboo stems plucked from his family's fields. Even this was a lucky break. 'The only reason we had bamboo in our fields was because at that time my parents were growing pomegranates and we used the bamboo to keep the plants growing straight. A few years later my parents replaced the pomegranates with sugarcane. I'd never have taken javelin if it wasn't for the fact that we had a lot of bamboo which I could use to practise throwing,' he says.
Shivam's equipment was rudimentary and his technique was less than basic. But he says he loved the javelin event right away. 'The first time I threw the javelin I loved the trajectory of how the javelin flew through the air. But at that time, I didn't even know how to do a crossover step. I found out later on only that I was using the wrong leg order while doing that step,' he says. Despite this, his talent was obvious. In the 9th standard, Shivam won his first district competition.
Shift to Pune
While he continued to train, it soon became obvious that Shivam's talent was far too much to be limited to his village. In 2021 as Neeraj Chopra won his Olympic title, Shivam says he was inspired to move to Pune to train under a proper athletics coach.
'I and two others from my village decided to go to Pune and train at the stadium there. It was a difficult decision. It's not easy to go from a village to a big city. I had to take money from my parents which was difficult for me because they are farmers. I needed 15000 rupees each month for my training diet and room rent but I was lucky that my parents encouraged me to go. It was a big decision for me. I know that if I stayed in Sonai, I'd be nothing as an athlete,' he says.
After eight months training at Pune's Sanas ground, Shivam was noticed by coach Kashinath Naik – who once coached Neeraj Chopra himself – at a Maharashtra junior state meet that was taking place in Pune. Shivam recalls that he threw 62.48 meters at that competition following which he was asked by coach Kashinath whether he wanted to train at the Army Sports Institute in Pune.
'I started training as a civilian at ASI Pune in 2022. That opportunity from Kashinath sir changed my life because at ASI Pune, my training and stay were taken care of.'
Day 2⃣ Updates from Asian U20 Athletics Championship 2023, Yecheon 🇰🇷
In Men's Javelin event, 🇮🇳's Shivam Lokhare wins 🥈with a throw of 72.34m.
Congratulations Shivam 🥳 pic.twitter.com/60qPNJL6cP — SAI Media (@Media_SAI) June 5, 2023
At ASI Pune, Shivam's strengths as a thrower were polished. He won silver at the Junior nationals in 2022 before taking gold the next year. A few months later he would compete at the Junior Asian Championships where he finished with silver with a throw of 72.34m. That was followed by his first senior competition – the National Games in Goa where he took fifth place with a throw of 76.92m. In practice he says he even managed a throw of 82 meters.
Injury trouble
Shortly after his performance at the 2023 National Games though Shivam was faced with his first challenge as an athlete. 'I picked up a back injury that year. Although I had good technique and I could throw the javelin well, my body wasn't strong enough to deal with the stress of throwing that far,' he says.
Although his performances from 2023 had seen him recruited as a Havaldar in the Mahar Regiment of the Indian Army, recurring injuries meant Shivam had a modest 2024 season – his best was only 76.19m and he didn't place on the podium at the National championships.
It was the disappointment of the 2024 season that would steel Shivam's mind and cause him to devote the next year solely to the javelin throw. While he might be short of two wheels, and injuries are never completely out of the picture – he's still dealing with an ankle injury to his blocking right leg – Shivam says he's improved significantly as a thrower.
At 187 centimetres tall and weighing 92kg, Shivam has the same build as Neeraj Chopra and he has some strong lifts in the weight room – he has a snatch of 100kg and a clean and jerk of 130kg. However he feel his strongest ability is his ability to learn. 'I knew when I came to ASI Pune that I was more explosive and stronger than most throwers of my age. But I think my best quality is that I'm able to pick technique up easily,' he says.
As he continues improving himself, Shivam has his goals clearly mapped out for him. 'I'm happy that I got my first throw over 80m but my task now is to maintain this result. There's no point if I throw 80m now and then throw 75m in my next competition. I need to stay in this range. If I can do that, I know I can get a throw of 85m which I want to do by the end of the year. If I can do that, next year my goals will get bigger,' he says.
With his ambitions as high as they are, it makes sense that Shivam isn't planning to rest on his laurels – he is on the training field on Sunday. The only way he marked his achievement at the India Open was a visit to the temple to thank God and he borrowed a friend's scooter to go there. It might be a step down from KTM 390 but Shivam doesn't mind. 'I'll have all the time for fast bikes in the future. For now I just want to make big throws,' he says.