Potchefstroom [South Africa], April 21 : Ahead of the NC Classic 2025, India's Olympic gold medalist and world champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra said that the event will help Indian athletes earn plenty of points which will help them in qualification for events like the World Championships and also make people more aware of javelin throw as a discipline and its players.
The 'Neeraj Chopra Classic' javelin throw event, a World Athletics 'A' category or Continental Tour Gold-level event, will be held in Bengaluru's Kanteerava Stadium on May 24, as per Olympics.com.
Speaking about how the event will serve the interests of Indian athletes, Neeraj said during a media conference organised by JSW, "It will be good for our Indian athletes because this competition is in category A, it is a gold-level event in World Athletics. The Indian athletes who compete will get good points and will get help to qualify for the world championship. We will try to have three or four Indian athletes and others from all over the world."
Neeraj also acknowledged that as of late, many people in India have started to know about javelin and are following it and the event will bring more fans to the sport. He also said that in future, more athletics events will be added to the competition.
"Many athletes are performing well. So, we have to see how it will be. It will not be easy for us. I do not know which Indian will participate. I think this event will help a lot. The world's top athletes will be here. We will add these events (other athletic events) so that our athletes can compete with them. They will get help to perform well. People of India would be able to know them and watch them play. They would be able to know how hard their training is, how hard it is for them to play and how much body power it takes," he added.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is the official sanctioning body of this historic event.
Along with Chopra, the competition will see participation from some of the best in the sport, including Julius Yego, Rumesh Pathirage, Luiz Mauricio Da Silva, Anderson Peters, Thomas Rohler, and Curtis Thompson, with more Indian and international athletes expected to be confirmed soon.
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