In a massive boost for Indian athletics, a total of 14,593 fans thronged the Kanteerava Stadium to watch the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic on Saturday.

The one-of-a-kind javelin throw only event, classified as World Athletics Category ‘A’ competition, saw a total of 12 athletes compete for glory in the city of Bengaluru.

While Neeraj Chopra himself walked away with the gold medal with a throw of 86.18m, Kenya’s Julius Yego (84.51m) and Sri Lanka’s Ramesh Pathirage (84.34m) completed the podium in what was a much anticipated event.

The Neeraj Chopra Classic was initially slated to be held at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Haryana – Chopra’s home ground – but was later sifted to the Kanteerava Stadium to meet the World Athletics’ broadcast standards.

The tournament was supposed to be held in May 2025 but had to be postponed to July, thanks to the India-Pakistan conflict two months ago.

Despite the relocation, postponement, and absence of big names like double world champion Anderson Peters, season leader Julian Weber and others, the NC Classic managed to pull in a strong crowd.

With India’s 2036 Olympics hosting ambitions no secret, the fact that a javelin throw only event managed to pull in nearly 15,000 people into the stadium on a Saturday evening augurs well for Indian sports.