Sports Ministry approves preparatory camp for Neeraj Chopra in Switzerland

The Mission Olympic Cell has approved the participation of current World Athletics Champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra for a 12-day training camp in Magglingen, Switzerland, ahead of his participation in the Diamond League 2023 final scheduled in Eugene, USA this September.

A total of Rs 5.89 lakh have been sanctioned for the preparatory camp, set between September 1 and September 12. Neeraj, on Thursday, finished second at the Diamond League event in Zurich after recording the best throw of 85.71m.

Parul Chaudhary, who sealed a Paris Olympics quota by clocking a National Record time of 9:15.31s at the Budapest event in the women's 3000m steeplechase event, also has been included in the TOPS Core group.


The Mission Olympic Cell also approved a financial sanction for Table tennis star Sharath Kamal for participating in various events, procuring equipments and hiring of personal coach Chris Pfeiffer till the Paris 2024 Olympics. Star badminton doubles players Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have also been provided assistance towards masseur Nishant Nagpuri for accompanying them for the China Open 2023 scheduled from September 5 to September 10.

Neeraj Chopra made history once again when he captured India's first-ever gold medal at the World Athletics Championships and edged out Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem by less than a meter at the final of the men's javelin throw event in Budapest. Neeraj recorded his best throw of 88.17 m in his second attempt and managed to keep his lead intact till the very end.

The reigning Olympic and world champion failed to defend his Diamond League title, falling just short of Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch (85.86 m), who took home the trophy. Germany's Julian Weber got the third position with the best throw of 85.04 m.

Neeraj will be back on the field in the Asian Games, Hangzhou which is scheduled from September 23 to October 8. This competition will mark the final major competition of this year for the 25-year-old javelin thrower.