Yashvir Singh, who trained with bamboo sticks, now stands with Neeraj Chopra on podium
“I was telling him the same thing that I told him in the qualification. Maar jatka (Go for it, give it everything.) In the final too, I told him, ‘It’s the last throw.'”
These were the words of a proud Neeraj Chopra as he stood facing the cameras alongside a smiling Yash Vir Singh. Both men had clinched silver and bronze in the Commonwealth Games in the men’s javelin final. While the result and performance was expected from Neeraj, Yash Vir arrived as a breath of fresh air in the star-studded competition and triumphed over the likes of Anderson Pieters, Arshad Nadeem and world champion Keshorn Walcott.
It didn’t seem like Yash was in the conversation for a medal till the final throw. His competition was Douw Smit and Pieters. At that time, it felt like he wasn’t going to make the cut. He had fouled on his first and fourth throws and his 81.33 didn’t seem like it was going to get the job done.
But then the jatka came for the rest of the lineup. A strong run up that did see him fumble at the end, but the warcry was deafening than the crowd inside. Yash knew he had done enough to claim a bronze medal.
“At one point I had thrown around 81.33 metres. I looked at the results and bronze was around 82 metres. Then I thought, I’ve already thrown over 82 in competition before, I can do it again. But till the fifth throw it just wasn’t happening. Before the last throw I just thought, whatever happens, happens. Then the last one came out really well,” said Yash to the reporters.
Yash would feel like he is at the top of the world right now. But the journey to this destination was one that saw him train with bamboo sticks under tutelage of his father.
YASH VIR SINGH’S JOURNEY
Here’s a fully reworked version with a fresh structure and wording while retaining the key facts:
Hailing from Jaipur, Rajasthan, Yashvir Singh has established himself as one of India’s brightest javelin prospects. Although he first gravitated towards basketball, he switched to javelin during his school days, honing his skills with bamboo sticks before eventually training with professional equipment.
“I initially played basketball just to get fit and then started off with a bamboo javelin. Once I picked up the technique, I switched to a standard javelin,” said Yash in an interview in 2022.
Guided by his father, Rai Singh, a former national-level javelin thrower, Yashvir made rapid strides in the event. His father made sure that Yash remained grounded and followed the simple mantra that hard work will always translate into results.
“There is nothing special in our training. We spend a lot of time training, and eat right. When I was an athlete, I made a lot of mistakes and I just ensure that my son doesn’t go down the same road,” said Rai.
Yash first grabbed attention by eclipsing Neeraj Chopra’s meet record at the Indian U20 Federation Cup and, in 2022, became one of the select few Indian throwers to breach the 80-metre mark.
Since then, the Rajasthan athlete has steadily climbed the senior ranks with a string of consistent performances. He represented India at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, where he finished fifth after producing a then-personal best throw of 82.57m.
Those performances also helped him secure a place at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo through the World Rankings quota, earning him another opportunity to compete on the global stage.
– Ends
