Neeraj Chopra, who is training at in USA at the moment, is not coming back India anytime soon. The 24-year-old had asked for extension of his stay in US and that seems to have been approved by Sports Authority of India (SAI). 


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

His off-season camp was to conclude on March 4 but the javelin thrower had asked for extension to prepare for the World Championships that are slated to take place in Oregon from July 25 to 24. Neeraj has currently been training at the Chula Vista elite athlete training centre since December 5. Returning to India and then going back to USA again makes no sense, said some sources. 


Around 15 to 25 athletes, including those who have already qualified for the World Athletics Championships, will join Neeraj at the training centre from June 18th to July 13. It is expected that 10 to 12 officials, including coaches and other members of the support staff will also accompany the athletes.



The logic behind this camp is that it will provide the athletes the exposure in terms of acclimatization to weather conditions. 


Neeraj's key events:


Neeraj will be taking part at the World Championship, as told earlier. He will soon be taking a flight to Birmingham to take part in Commonwealth Games that starts four days after the conclusion of World Championships, that is on July 28. 


The Tokyo Olympics gold medallist will also be taking part in the Asian Games in Hangzhou which will held between September to 25. 


Athletes qualified for Worlds:


Neeraj Chopra (Javelin Throw), Sandeep Kumar (20km Walk), Rahul (20km Walk), Avinash Sable (300m SC), Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Shot Put), six athletes in 4X400m relay men, Kamal Preet Kaur (Discus Throw), Seema Punia (Discus Throw) and Priyanka (20 km Walk) have already qualified for the event.


Athletes likely to qualify for Worlds:


On the other hand, Annu Rani (Javelin Throw), Harmilan Bains (1500m), Ayyaswamy Dharun (400 M H), Hima Das (200m), Dutee Chand (100m/200m), Sree Shankar (Long Jump), Bhavana Jat (20 km Walk), Karanveer Singh (Shot Put) are likely to get qualified.