Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra wants athletics events to be made more attractive and marketable

Neeraj Chopra is the only Indian athlete to have won gold medals at the Olympics, World Athletics Championships and Asian Games.

Neeraj Chopra in RCB Innovation Lab leaders meet in Bengaluru. (Image: RCB)

Bangalore: Olympic javelin champion Neeraj Chopra on Wednesday emphasized on making athletics events more attractive and marketable to Indian fans. The Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, becoming the first Indian to stand on the podium in athletics events at the sporting showpiece, shared his thoughts on what is wrong with this athletics discipline in the country.

“First of all, I believe that the international competitions we participate in, such as the Diamond League, Continental Tours and World Athletics Championships, should be telecast in India. “At the moment we can only watch the highlights, although people want to watch the athletics. They stay up until 1-2 am and wait for the athlete to play, but they get disappointed because they can’t watch,” says Chopra. said.

He was addressing a gathering during the RCB Innovation Lab’s Leaders Meet India. Broadcasting athletics events on TV will allow more people to watch, understand and expand the competitions that Indians compete in, Chopra said.

RCB Innovation Lab is an initiative that brings together people from the international sports world to “create a platform where influential dialogues and the exchange of innovative ideas are central”.

The Haryana-born athlete has had an exceptional year so far, with gold medals at the Asian Games and the World Athletics Championships. Chopra also spoke about the extent to which the Indian sports ecosystem has developed in recent years, highlighting the need to host international competitions in India that could be a game-changer for athletics.

“If countries like Kenya and Grenada can regularly host international athletics competitions at the world level, India also has great potential to do the same. Whenever I meet people from the World Athletics organization, they express their interest in organizing such a tournament in India. I am hopeful that if India can host such competitive events, more people will be able to witness such championships in person and be inspired,” said Chopra.

Talking about his preparations when he returned from a break, he said: “My preparation starts with removing the excess fat that has accumulated over the past few days. I had a lot of milk, ghee, churma and sweets in my hometown while I was there. I tried my best to control it, but I couldn’t. But I know that if I get started with my training, I can be up and running within two to three weeks.”