'Not happy with performance, but satisfied with win': Neeraj Chopra reacts after first edition of NC Classic 2025

Chopra bagged first place with a best throw of 86.18m.

Neeraj Chopra made history on Friday evening by winning the inaugural edition of the Neeraj Chopra Classic, a World Athletics ‘A category’ javelin event held in Bengaluru. While the competition marked another victory in Chopra’s remarkable athletic career, it also carried emotional weight, as he found himself competing in an event that bore his own name.

The 27-year-old Olympic and World Champion clinched the gold medal with a throw of 86.18 meters. He began the evening with a foul on his first attempt but quickly bounced back, delivering a strong third-round throw that placed him ahead of international competitors, including Kenya’s Julius Yego and Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage.

After the event, Neeraj Chopra’s message went viral on X (formerly Twitter), where he opened up about the emotional complexity of the moment. “Last few days have been hard for me. It felt a bit weird that the competition is in my name and I’m also competing in it. I wanted everything to go well for everyone and still perform my best,” he told reporters after the event.

“I spoke to my coach, and he said that it is okay and other athletes like Mondo [Armando Duplantis] have also done meets like this.

“So, that was a big pressure to perform well. But Rumesh [Pathirage] and Julius [Yego] pushed me hard. After all the work and travel, and training I have done for this, I am happy. I have managed to win the medal in the inaugural event. I am happy about that,” he added.

Though brief, his message revealed the balancing act he faced trying to host a global event in India while also competing at the highest level. The weight of expectations, both as an athlete and as the face of the event, was something Chopra didn’t shy away from acknowledging.

He also thanked fans, the Athletics Federation of India, and World Athletics for helping make the event a success and said the experience felt “surreal.”

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The Neeraj Chopra Classic is India’s first World Athletics-recognised gold-level javelin competition. It’s not just a personal milestone for Chopra but a broader statement about where Indian athletics is headed. The event brought global attention to a sport that often exists on the sidelines in India.

It also offered a rare chance for Indian athletes to compete in a high-profile meet without having to go abroad.

“Having an event like this, with a lot of fans in the stadium. It is something big. World Athletics must be thinking now that India is ready for big events. I look forward to India hosting bigger events than this,” Julius Yego was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

For Chopra, the goal was never just to win. It was to build something lasting. By launching a competition that shares his name, he hopes to inspire younger athletes and give them a platform that didn’t exist when he was starting out.

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