World Athletics President Sebastian Coe Endorses Neeraj Chopra-Organised Javelin Competition

The star-studded global javelin competition which India is hosting in May with Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra in the tournament's organising team, has received endorsement from World Athletics president Sebastian Coe. Coe said the event will help showcase India's ability to host gold-level athletics events. "World Athletics is delighted to support this new event that will allow fans in India to see their heroes on home soil and that will also showcase to the world India's ability to stage gold standard events," said Coe.

Chopra will be among the leading global stars who will compete in the World Athletics-sanctioned Continental Tour javelin-only competition.

While the venue for the marquee event is yet to be finalised, it will see some of the top male and female javelin throwers from the world compete on Indian soil for the first time.

Neeraj, who along with JSW Sports and Athletics Federation of India (AFI), has been instrumental in getting the competition to the country, said it was his longstanding dream to bringing a top-notch javelin event to India.

"It has been a longstanding dream of mine to organise and bring a world-class javelin competition to India. With the help of JSW Sports and the Athletics Federation of India, we are making this happen," said the two-time Olympic medallist.

"I am sure that my fellow athletes and the fans in India will both create an experience that will be spoken about for a long time. I am excited to see how big we can make this," he said in a statement.

The invitational tournament is not yet mentioned in the World Athletics Continental Tour calendar but Coe's endorsement means it will be included in a few days.

Chopra and JSW Sports are keen to make the event an annual fixture in the