India will have a busy athletics season in 2023, and Neeraj Chopra has already began his training at Loughborough University in England.
The Diamond League trophy won by Olympic gold medalist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, his silver at the World Athletics Championships, and Indian athletes’ triumph at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham made 2022 a good year for Indian athletics, providing fans with multiple reasons to celebrate.
Following his gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj was expected to deliver additional honours to the country, and his performances in 2022 did not disappoint.
However, due to a groyne injury, he was unable to compete in the CWG 2022, but he commemorated his recovery by becoming the first Indian to win a Diamond League meet in Lausanne, and finally became the first Indian to win a Diamond League trophy.
Apart from Neeraj, the performances in track and field by youngsters like steeplechaser Avinash Sable, triple jumpers Eldhose Paul and Abdulla Aboobacker, walkers Priyanka Goswami and Sandeep Kumar, javelin thrower Annu Rani, long jumper Murali Sreeshankar and high jumper Tejaswin Shankar at CWG 2022 were heartening and helped India win eight medals, including one gold, four silver and three bronze in Birmingham.
Following a successful 2022 season, India will have a busy 2023 athletics season, with 23 important domestic tournaments scheduled throughout the year, in addition to international meets such as the Asian Games and the World Athletics Championships.
Indian athletes will attempt to hone their talents in domestic tournaments before competing against the best in the world at the Asian Games and World Athletics Championships.
They will compete for medals not just in the Asian Games and World Athletics Championships, but also to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In terms of the qualification pathway to Paris 2024, athletes will be able to qualify in two ways: 50% will be based on achieving the entry standard for an event during the qualification period, and 50% will be based on the World Athletics Ranking during the ranking period.
The Asian Games, on the other hand, have separate qualification standards for each nation, as opposed to the Olympics, where the qualifying marks are the same for all nations.
The individual federations establish their own requirements, which athletes must meet within a specific qualifying window in order to be considered for selection to the final team.
All eyes will once again be on Neeraj Chopra, who has already began his training at Loughborough University in England in preparation for the 2023 season.
He will spend 63 days at Loughborough University, which is famed for its cutting-edge sports gym and training facilities.
His coach and biomechanics expert Klaus Bartonietz, as well as physiotherapist Ishaan Marwaha, are accompanying the 24-year-old.
Chopra’s 2023 season will most likely include the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August, the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in September, and Diamond League contests.
Overall, there are numerous significant events scheduled for next year in which India can shine and establish itself as a future athletics powerhouse.
Top performances in these events will also give them a huge confidence boost ahead of the much-anticipated 2024 Paris Olympics.
However, Indian athletes will have to be cautious about their fitness and recovery, which has traditionally impeded the country’s advancement. They will also have to deal with the drug issue.
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