Neeraj Chopra's Tokyo gold will broaden the base of athletics: Coe

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe labelled Neeraj Chopra’s historic javelin throw gold at the Tokyo Olympics this year as a “powerful” moment in Indian athletics and an ideal platform to grow track and field in the country by not just tapping on its popularity boost but also hosting big-ticket events.

The legendary British middle-distance runner—a two-time 1500m Olympic gold medallist at the 1980 and 1984 Games—cited his own example of the celebrations and spurt in interest around him and the sport back home after his Olympic exploits. Coe senses similar after-effects in India, with global ramifications, after Chopra delivered a memorable first medal in athletics for the country after years of near-misses and disappointment.

“The first gold medal in Indian athletics is a hugely important moment. And it’s an important moment because for the first time in many years, people in India were talking about track and field,” Coe said in a virtual interaction with select media from Asia on Wednesday.

“For Chopra to have done what he did on the biggest of global stages… is a fabulous platform, not just for India but broadly for Asia and across the world. Because I know too well that there are Indian communities in all our big urban populations around the world. So that (Chopra’s medal) went far and wide. It can actually help engage the Indian communities in the US, Great Britain and large parts of Europe and Africa in wanting to be part of our sport too. So the transmission mechanism—as they would say in economics—was a very, very powerful one,” he added.

Chopra’s gold, with that incredible effort of 87.58m throw in Tokyo, has put forth javelin throw in particular, and athletics in general, into the spotlight in India. Coe believes that while a single medal alone cannot drive the transformation engine, the paths it can open up are multifold. One of the biggest among them is expanding the footprint of the sport in the country by hosting more global events, thereby also ensuring that the interest and buzz around athletics is sustained and further developed.

“Chopra is a very strong element in that, but a one-off performance from an athlete—important as it is—is not as powerful as it is when it has a good, strong federation behind it. India has that now,” Coe said. “So it’s an opportunity to use that performance to broaden the footprint for athletics, to want to stage more events. India is now forthcoming in wanting to look at those events. I don’t know where the current thinking is within the Indian government but I’m genuinely, for all sorts of reasons, hoping that one day there will be an Olympic Games in India.”

Coe lauded the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for providing the ray of hope amidst the gloom of the global pandemic. Its year-long delay though has had a ripple effect on other global tournaments across sport. Athletics too faces a cramped 2022 calendar, with the World Athletics Championships scheduled in July in Oregon ending just days before the Birmingham Commonwealth Games from July 28-August 8. The Asian Games in Hangzhou begin less than a month later, while the European Championships is also slotted in August. The physical challenges of a packed schedule as well as mental health concerns of competing in extended restrictive environments around tournaments with the ever-evolving Covid-19 situation could impact athletes.

“The delay of the Olympics has had an impact. The calendar has intensified the competitive programme and condensed it into a shorter period. We need to be respectful that athletes will be competing more intensively. So we do need to watch that, and the coaches and federation will be watching closely. This is where good coaches are most important; they will not just be watching the physical toll of the athlete but also the equivalent mental challenges. Athletes will inevitably want to pace themselves as well,” Coe said.

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