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Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president Adille Sumariwalla has disclosed that Neeraj Chopra was permitted to skip the National Inter-State Athletics Championships to allow him to better prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
According to AFI's rules, it is mandatory for all Indian athletes, who have either qualified for this year's Olympics or are trying to qualify, to take part in the National Inter-State Athletics Championships. Chopra, however, is the only exception to this rule.
At a Federation Cup press conference on Tuesday (May 14), Sumariwalla explained why Chopra skipped the inter-state championships.
“We have made it very clear that every athlete will compete in India at the Inter-State Championships. But the Paris Diamond League is clashing with the Inter-State Championships and we feel that Paris Diamond League will be very important for him [Neeraj Chopra] before the Olympic Games,” he said (via Firstpost).
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“Therefore he is the only guy who has been given special permission to participate in the Federation Cup. Otherwise, every athlete has to participate in the Inter-State Championships, this has been made clear from day one,” he added.
Neeraj Chopra returns to action in India, to take part in the 2024 Federation Cup
Neeraj Chopra is set to take part in the 2024 Federation Cup, marking his return to action in India for the first time since winning the historic gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The last time Chopra took part in an event on home soil was the Federation Cup in 2021, where he won the gold medal with an 87.80m throw. Since then, he won the Diamond League in 2022, became the world champion in 2023, and also defended his Asian Games gold medal in China last year, besides becoming the Olympic champion.
According to the AFI rules, athletes with a throw of above 75m will receive a bye from the qualification round at the Federation Cup. This means Chopra, along with eight others, has been given a direct entry into the final. Three others will join them from the qualifying round.
The javelin throw final is scheduled to get underway on Wednesday (May 15) at 7 pm IST.
