Hit the jackpot
India’s teen javelin sensation wants to train at the home of the sport, Finland
was doing sports for fitness. I didn’t have much idea about javelin. It was sometime around mid-2011 that I got into throw events because of my friend Monu, who is also a javelin thrower. After joining the national camp last year, a senior thrower, Rajinder Singh, guided me and it’s because of his motivation that
I was able to better his national record.
Australian coach
Garry Calvert also has a major contribution in my progress.
The place you hail from doesn’t have many sports facilities, especially for throw events…
Initially it was tough. There is no bus connectivity from my village to the stadium in
Panipat, and at that time I didn’t have a vehicle.
It used to take me hours commuting.
But, it is because of these hardships that I have been able to achieve this much. Frankly speaking, this is just the beginning. I have to achieve a lot.
Give us an insight into your family background.
I am from a humble farming family. Though making ends meet was not a problem, we still had limited resources. It was only in 2014 that I was able to buy my first javelin that too of mediocre quality. I bought two for ₹14,000 while the international-level javelin cost around ₹1 lakh. I was able to train with topquality javelins when I
joined the national camp.
What about your future plans?
I will discuss it with my coach and, most probably, I will train in Europe, preferably Finland, which is the hub of javelin throw. At the same time, I will also look for a job, as it will give me some sort of security.