In another sphere
Shivpal throws javelin to Tokyo from South Africa
Born into a family of javelin national champions, Shivpal Singh took up the spear purely under peer pressure. Only when he qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with a gold-winning throw of 85.47m at the Athletics Central North East (ACNW) League Meeting in Potchefstroom, South Africa, on Tuesday, that the pressure came off, somewhat, for the 24-yearold. “My father, uncle, younger brother (Nand Kishore Singh) all are national champions in javelin and have always kept me on my toes. When I finally managed to get past the 85ym mark, I breathed a sigh of relief because now, my family members will not be able to give me an earful about qualifying,” an elated Shivpal told this newspaper in an exclusive interview from Potchefstroom.
Come July, he gets a shot at glory in the biggest stage though. The Uttar Pradesh athlete, who has been training in South Africa since January 7, this year — under the watchful eyes of Olympic champion Uwe Hohn — has made the most of the opportunity. Shivpal started off with a throw off 75.97m. He gradually improved to finally make the cut in his fifth attempt.
“I threw 86.23m (1.23m beyond the Olympics cut) on April 23, 2019, exactly a week before the cut off for the Olympics, which started from May 1, 2019, began. Ever since, I have competed at various events but failed to go beyond the 83m mark,” the young man from Chanduali said.
“It was only on December 7, 2019, that I threw 84.16m despite my
● Shivpal Singh crossed the qualifying standard of 85 metres by hurling the spear to a distance of 85.47m in his fifth attempt to win the gold medal at the ACNW Meeting being held in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
hamstring pull at the South Asian Games. That was the best I got since April last year. Ever since I started training with Hohn in South Africa, I have improved a lot physically. I am able to lift a lot more weights and cross taller hurdles. A week before the event, I had a sore back. I spoke with coach Hohn to reduce the intensity of the training so that I can compete at the ACNW meet,” the 2019 Asian Athletics championship silver medallist revealed.
“I went into the ACNW League with an aim of going past the 90m barrier but had to settle for 85.47m. My father, uncle and Nand Kishore were not content. When I spoke with them over the phone after making the cut, they pointed out a couple of mistakes in my throws and praised me before hanging up. This is also the same event from which Neeraj Chopra qualified for the Olympics. So I knew if I threw beyond 85m I would earn myself a spot at the Tokyo Games,” the 2019 Military Games gold medallist added.
Neeraj, who made the cut with a throw of 87.86m in January this year, congratulated Shivpal on Twitter on becoming the second Indian javelin athlete to make the cut for Tokyo. “Neeraj is like a brother to me. We grew up together. I called him up to after qualifying. He was elated. But he also told me not take my eyes off the main event, the Olympics. He has asked me to train hard,” Shivpal said.
What next? “I am coming back to India on March 21. I will go meet my family and the head straight to Patiala to continue my training. If the Athletics Federation of India want me to compete at the Federation Cup in Patiala, I will. If not, I’ll continue to train in Patiala until we go to Poland for advanced preparations. With the Tokyo qualifying done, my next aim is to prepare for the upcoming Diamond League and the Olympics,” Shivpal concluded.