"I Want That 84m Throw To Count This Time": Shivam Lohakare Eyes Big Statement At Federation Cup

Indian javelin throwing continues to produce exciting young stars, and one name that is rapidly catching everyone's attention is Shivam Lohakare. At just 21 years old, the young thrower has already shown that he belongs among the country's elite javelin athletes.

Shivam began his 2026 season in style by producing a personal best throw of 81.08m at the Indian Open Throws in Patiala. What made the performance even more impressive was the fact that he achieved the mark with his very first attempt of the competition. It was another reminder that Indian javelin has found yet another fearless young talent ready to challenge the best.

However, Shivam himself believes there is much more left in him.

"I wasn't able to produce the kind of throw I had expected. I had gone there aiming for an 82m+ throw, but 81m is also fine because I was consistently throwing beyond 82m in training," Shivam Lohakare told myKhel.

After Patiala, Shivam competed at the Indian Athletics Series-3 in New Delhi, where he finished fourth with a best throw of 79.05m.

While the result may not have matched expectations, the youngster revealed that physical issues affected his performance.

"The Delhi series didn't go well for me. It felt like there was no energy in my body, and I didn't even feel like I was throwing properly. The reason was that my digestion had been upset for the past 2-3 days, and when that happens, the body just doesn't have enough energy," he explained.

But one average competition cannot hide the incredible rise Shivam has enjoyed over the last year.

In 2025, he announced himself on the national stage by throwing 80.95m at the Indian Open Athletics Meet in Pune. Before that, his personal best stood at 76.92m in 2023. The jump was massive, but Shivam proved it was no fluke.

Soon after, he threw 80.73m at a World Athletics Bronze-level competition in Bhubaneswar, finishing second. Then came another brilliant performance at the Inter-State Athletics Championships in Chennai, where he won bronze with a throw of 80.20m.

Three competitions, three consecutive 80m throws, a sign of growing consistency at the highest level.

He later produced an even bigger throw of 84.31m at the Services trials. Though the mark will not officially count because the event was not World Athletics-certified, the performance still showed the level Shivam is capable of reaching.

Even India's Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra took notice, congratulating him on Instagram with the words: "Congratulations Shivam, very good. Keep going."

Now, Shivam's focus shifts towards the Federation Cup in Ranchi, where he will face one of the strongest javelin fields in India. The competition is expected to feature World Championships 2025 finalist Sachin Yadav, Asian Games silver medalist Kishore Jena, and World Championships 2022 finalist Rohit Yadav.

And Shivam already has a clear target in mind "I want to throw 84m at the Federation Cup, just like I did last year. But it didn't count there, so I want to do it here this time."

Currently training at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Shivam has spent valuable time under renowned coach Sergey Makarov, the two-time Olympic medalist who has been guiding Indian javelin throwers.

According to Shivam, the training environment under Makarov completely changed his approach.

"It has helped me a lot and brought many changes in me. Earlier in Maharashtra, there used to be a huge crowd during practice sessions, and I wasn't able to give enough time to myself to understand how to work on things properly. But after coming under Sergey Makarov, things changed because there were only two athletes training under him, so the coach also had enough time to focus and plan. I benefited a lot from the javelin camp in New Delhi."

At present, Shivam stands sixth in the Asian lead list for 2026 and fourth among Indian javelin throwers this season. More importantly, he carries the confidence of an athlete who knows he is capable of throwing much farther.

Indian athletics has already witnessed the rise of several javelin superstars. Now, another young thrower is slowly building his own story, one big throw at a time.