Indian athletics 2024: Neeraj shining but dope cheats also thriving

New Delhi: Gold eluded him and so did the 90m mark but Neeraj Chopra was the undisputed star of Indian athletics for yet another year even as the sport itself continued a long-standing battle with dope cheats while trying to assert itself internationally by bringing big-ticket events to the country.

The 26-year-old javelin throw superstar failed to defend his Olympic gold but became the most successful Indian athlete across disciplines in individual sports with his silver medal in the Paris Games. He also finished second in the prestigious Diamond League Finale.

Creditably, he achieved both the accolades while carrying an injury. A nagging adductor niggle (a problem related to thigh muscles) troubled him in the run-up to Paris Olympics and a fracture in his left hand hit him ahead of DL Finale. Chopra later said that his injury is fine.

He was beaten for the Olympic gold by Pakistani Arshad Nadeem, who surprised the world with a Games record throw of 92.97m.

In the DL Finale, Anderson Peters of Grenada, who was struggling after back-to-back world crowns in 2019 and 2022, completed his comeback by winning the title.

Lessons for Chopra

Chopra and those who have followed his growth have been obsessed with the 90m mark. There is never an interaction where the Panipat-based lad is not asked when and how he would breach it.

He came reasonably close twice this year, one occasion being the Olympic finals, but it was not to be.

India's golden boy, whose personal best is 89.94m, has gone for a new coach keeping in mind the World Championships next year.

Steering him the coming season would be none other than world record holder and three-time Olympic gold-medallist Jan Zelezny, without doubt the greatest javelin thrower in history.

This was after Chopra parted ways with 75-year-old German biomechanics expert Klaus Bartonietz with whom he was associated for five years, winning a gold and a silver each in the Olympics and the World Championships.

His season still some months away, Chopra is resting and recuperating for now but he is well aware that every move he makes after this break would be closely tracked.

Likes of Sable and men's 4x400m quartet disappoint

India's top 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable failed to go beyond winning medals at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. He finished 11th in the Paris Olympics final.

Another highlight for him was making it to the Diamond League Finale, after a few higher-ranked competitors pulled out. But he couldn't really set the stage on fire and ended up in ninth place.

Another world class athlete, long jumper Murali Sreeshankar missed the Olympics due to a knee injury and subsequent surgery.

The men's 4x400m relay team set an Asian record of 3:00.25 at the Tokyo Olympics and followed it up by challenging USA's aura of invincibility at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest where another Asian record of 2:59.05 was set.

The Athletics Federation of India had high hopes of the relay team achieving something big at the Paris Olympics but team failed to even reach the finals.

Hall of Shame

The menace of doping did not leave Indian athletics and the country's credibility of its continued to dwindle internationally.

The World Anti-Doping Agency named India as the second worst after Russia in a 10-year global study of positive doping cases by minors. Among the stars to let the country down was 2016 Rio Olympian quarter-miler Nirmala Sheoran, who copped an eight-year ban for a second dope offence.

Hammer thrower Rachna Kumari was banned for 12 years for failing multiple dope tests conducted by the international federation's Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU). Distance runner G Lakshmanan (for whereabouts failure) and sprinter Himani Chandel were handed handed two and four-year bans respectively.

Rising javelin thrower DP Manu failed a dope test ahead of Paris Olympics., while former national record holding race walker Bhawna Jat was handed a 16-month ban for ''whereabouts failure''.

'Middle distance runner Parvej Khan, who made headlines with his exploits at the NCAA circuit in the USA, also failed a dope test along with Asian Games 4x400m relay gold-winning quarter-miler VK Vismaya.

National Record Breakers

There were some national records broken too. Sable continued to be his own competitor in men's 3000m steeplechase, clocking 8:09.91sec during the Paris Diamond League for a new national mark.

Akshdeep Singh (men's 20km race walk), Gulveer Singh (men's 5,000m and 10000m), KM Deeksha (women's 1500m), and Abha Khatua (women's shot put) were also among those who bettered national records in their respective events.

Global events come to India

India will host the World Athletics Continental Tour bronze level meet in Bhubaneswar on August 10, 2025.

The Continental Tour is an annual series of international track and field competitions, which forms the second tier of one-day meetings after the prestigious Diamond League.

This will be the first global athletics meet to be hosted by India after the international permit meets in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the World Half Marathon Championships in 2004.

India has also submitted its bid for the 2028 World U20 Championships. The country last year expressed its interest to host the 2029 World Championships, and the bidding process is likely to start early 2025.

But with issues like doping still a massive problem with no firm solution in sight, it remains to be seen whether the Indian athletics story manages to find success beyond Chopra's individual brilliance.