Indian Javelin Throwers To Begin Training Camp For Tokyo Olympics In Odisha

The team of elite javelin throwers including Neeraj Chopra, Shivpal Singh and Annu Rani led by coaches Uwe Hohn and Dr Klaus arrived in Bhubaneswar on Thursday to train and prepare for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics 2021. Rajinder Singh and Rohit Yadav are the other members of the Indian team which will commence training from Friday at the Kalinga Stadium and will continue till the end of the month. Fondly remembering his experience in the city during the Asian Athletics Championships 2017, where he won gold, star javelin thrower, Neeraj Chopra shared, "We are here for the training camp and prior in 2017, I won gold here and have fond memories of the event and the city. We are a team of five athletes and we will commence our training in full swing. With our best efforts, we are hoping to do well at the Olympics and bringing fame for the country."

Secretary Sports, Odisha, Vishal K Dev, said, "Kalinga Stadium that was recently upgraded as per FIFA standards, to host the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup 2020, will host the Camp for the first time, and we are happy that the Athletic Federation of India chosen Bhubaneswar as the base for the elite Javelin Throw Group, to train for the upcoming Olympic event, This is an important stage and we will extend every support to the team."

"The javelin throwers will have access to both our grounds, infrastructure and facilities within the stadium," he added.

Safety of squad being priority, detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been prepared for the resumption of the team training, which lays down numerous COVID-19 protocols and guidelines in an exhaustive manner.

The team have shifted base from NIS Patiala to Bhubaneswar due to difficulty in training because of severe cold conditions in Punjab.