Neeraj Chopra pays tribute to India's U20 Athletics Championships contingent
India javelin star Neeraj Chopra paid a heartfelt tribute to the Indian contingent who took part at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Oregon. India returned from the event with three medals to their name, which included two silvers and one bronze.
With this, India matched their overall tally from both the 2021 and 2022 editions. Ashish Yadav got India off the mark by securing silver in the men’s javelin. Basant Kumar Meghwal followed with another silver in the high jump, while Shahnavaz Khan completed the haul with bronze in the men’s long jump.
India’s medal count at the World Athletics U20 Championships remained modest for much of the period between 2002 and 2018, with the country collecting only four medals across those editions. Two of those came in gold, with Neeraj Chopra winning the men’s javelin title in 2016 and Hima Das claiming the women’s 400m crown in 2018.
Seema Antil had given India their first-ever medal at the event, taking silver in the women’s discus throw in Jamaica in 2002. Twelve years later, Navjeet Kaur Dhillon added another discus medal, winning bronze at the 2014 edition in the United States.
Neeraj took to X to share his message of support to the Indian contingent and for their performance on the stage where he himself made a mark.
The 28-year-old also told the athletes to keep the momentum going.
“Congratulations to the entire Indian contingent at the U-20 World Athletics Championships, who gave their best for the country and returned not just with medals, but so much of exposure and experience of competing with international athletes. Keep building on this momentum!” said Neeraj.
NEERAJ READY FOR ASIAN GAMES TEST
Neeraj marked his return at the Commonwealth Games 2026 with a stellar performance as he finished with a silver medal. He was only bettered by Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage, who seems to be in red-hot form and will be a major contender for the gold medal at the Asian Games.
Neeraj will be in action during a star-studded line-up at the Lausanne Diamond League on August 21, which will serve as a prep for him for the Asian Games.
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