Neeraj Chopra

India's champion athletes who stole the show for the country at the Tokyo Games 2020 have come together on one platform once again. Only this time it is in a different avatar to recite India's national anthem.This has been made possible thanks to former India cricketer Nilesh Kulkarni, Founder Director at the International Institute of Sports Management (IISM), the count'y's leading sports management college, along with his team through a concept called The Sports Heroes, which celebrates India's sporting heroes.

Sports in 2021 happened at a rapid pace. With the cloud of pandemic looming around, sportspersons faced challenges in mental, emotional and physical terms apart from on-field happenings. But some of them managed to overcome all sorts of obstacles and be great in their pursuit of sporting excellence. As we step into the new year, we look at the top 21 male sports performers of the previous year.

The proposal, moved by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), was approved inside four hours to ensure the javelin thrower Chopra can fly out on Sunday. The cost approved to train at the prestigious Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Centre under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) will be Rs 38 lakh.

Loud applause greeted Chopra, the first Indian to win an athletics gold medal in Olympics at Tokyo earlier this year, and the Paralympics heroes as they received the Khel Ratna awards from President Ram Nath Kovind in the presence of a host of Ministers, dignitaries, and sports celebrities. A large number of nominations were received for these awards this year,.

The jumbo list of national sports awards winners includes 39 athletes including history-making fencer Bhavani Devi, woman hockey player Vandana Katariya, 16 male hockey players wo ere part of the team that won a historic bronze medal after a gap of four decades at the Tokyo Olympics, and Paralympics medallist Bhavina Patel - were given the Arjuna Award.

Even former Test cricketer Virendra Sehwag was effusive in his praise for Chopra appearing in a commercial in five hilariously different avatars. He reposted the ad and tweeted: "The only person for whom 'Kya Fekta Hai Yaar' is a compliment. @Neeraj_chopra1."

"The packed schedule of travel and a bout of illness has meant I have not been able to resume training since Tokyo and therefore, along with my team, have decided to cut short (my) 2021 competition season to be able to take some time off, recharge and come back stronger for a packed 2022 calendar which includes the World Championships, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games," wrote Neeraj in a lengthy post.

Chopra, who said in an interview that he had to take his javelin from Nadeem before his first throw, added that he does not want his comments to be used as a way of increasing the javelin controversy. In the video, the 23-year-old explained that any thrower can use 'nyone's javelin and that there is no specific rule for it. He also expressed his disappointment over a simple matter blown out of proportion.

The athlete from Khandar village in Haryana's Panipat district, who is also a Subedar with 4 Rajputana Rifles in the Indian Army, told IANS in an exclusive interview, "I can't express my feelings in words of the moment when the national anthem was played during the medal ceremony in Tokyo."Following his heroics at the Olympics, the star athlete has moved up 14 places to World No. 2 in the latest World Athletics men's javelin throw rankings

Tracing the 23-year-old's journey from the IAAF World Under-20 Championships in 2016 -- where he achieved a world U-20 record throw of 86.48 metres, till the Tokyo Olympics --, WA wrote, "The final throw was taken (in Tokyo) and only then could Neeraj Chopra breathe a sigh of relief. It was a moment so monumental that 7 August will now be celebrated as National Javelin Day in his home country."