The country is still in the Olympic hangover as India won its first-ever Olympic gold medal in athletics. As Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra full-filled the dream of 1.38 billion Indians, central government and many state governments showered the athletic with crores of prize money and incentives.
In a recent report, it was revealed that the ‘Golden’ dream has crores of Modi-led government’s support. With Neeraj winning the under-16 National Champion in 2012 and the National Junior Championship in 2015, the central government was learned to identify the potential and release funds for his training.
According to the reports from the Sports Authority of India, a total of Rs. 7 crores was spent on Neeraj Chopra’s training. As part of the training program, Neeraj Chopra was sent abroad for professional training (Rs 4.85 crore) for 450 days before leaving for the Olympics.
Neeraj was also trained for 1,167 days at the National Coaching Camp in Patiala and was supplied with imported 177 javelins. A javelin throw machine worth Rs 74.28 lakhs was also bought for Neeraj. It was also reported that the Indian Government has hired Dr Klaus Bartonietz as a coach for Neeraj with Rs 1.22 crores deal.
Even a few days before the Olympics, Neeraj left for Sweden for 50 days to participate in European tournaments for which the government reportedly spent Rs 19.22 lakhs
