Neeraj Chopra and cream of Indian athletics to skip unscheduled Uttarakhand National Games

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Several big names in track and field have pulled out of the ongoing 38th Uttarakhand National Games as the main focus this year will be the World Athletics Championships in September.

India's ace javelin throwers Neeraj Chopra and Kishore Kumar Jena are two big names that will skip the athletics competition starting February 8 here in Dehradun for different reasons.

Even top quarter-milers have opted out of the National Games as the main focus is to compete at the May 10-11 World Relays in China, a qualification event for the Worlds in September.

Neeraj Chopra recently tied the knot with Himani Mor and his name doesn't figure in the tentative list of the male javelin throwers for the National Games. Moreover, India's Olympic and World Champion hasn't competed at the National Games since 2015. Chopra is expected to start his season in May to prepare for the World Championships in September.

Jena is undergoing rehab and will start his 2025 season sometime in April or May.
Olympian Shivpal Singh and Sachin Yadav are two main javelin throwers whose names figure in the tentative list. Both the throwers recorded above 80m performance in the 2024 season.

Shivpal Singh is National Games defending champion. However, he has just got four weeks of proper training under his belt. "I will compete at the National Games in Uttarakhand but can't predict the performance," Singh told Mykhel over the phone from Patiala.

While Rohit Yadav whose season best of 79.31m was recorded in 2024, too doesn't look competitive sharp early in the season.

The main competition in men's javelin looks like between Uttar Pradesh and SSCB. Both have three throwers each in the fray. Punjab has two while Kerala, Rajasthan and Haryana have one each.

"Majority of the core group of 400m athletes started their training in December last and the National Games doesn't fit into their schemes of things because it will not be practical to deliver a good performance in February," an athletics coach associated with the quarter-miler said. "All the leading 400m runners are training in Kerala and will commence their domestic season at the end of March."

The top draw in the men's 400m is Delhi's International runner Amoj Jacob, as per the tentative list. But he will skip the National Games as he is attending the national camp in Kerala.

Promising junior athlete Jay Kumar of Delhi who has moved up to senior group name is also in the tentative list for National Games. Kumar had an outstanding 2024 season. He was among the finalists at the World U20 Athletics Championships in Peru. But he could be a doubtful starter.

Odisha's rising junior 400m runner Bapi Hansda's name is also in the list of competitors. "The managers' meeting is scheduled for February 7, and we will get to know who all are competing at the National Games," one of the technical officials of the Athletics Federation of India said.