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Young Indian javelin throw athlete Himanshu Jakhar shattered the 11 year old Meet Record set by double-Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra in the qualifying round of the U18 event of the 40th National Junior Athletics Championships on Friday.
The 17-year-old athlete from Salahawas village in Jhajjar district of Haryana, registered a throw of 79.96m to eclipse Chopra’s effort of 76.50m back in the year 2014.
Jakhar, won the gold medal at the Asian U-18 Athletics Championships 2025 earlier in the year in Dammam, Saudi Arabia with a 67.57 metres effort to pip China’s Lu Hao, who registered a throw of 63.45m. His win also marked India’s first-ever in boys’ javelin throw at the continental event.
Jakhar, the son of farmers Dalbir and Reena, took to the sport at the tender age of 5-years of age and has cited the legendary Chopra, who clinched the Olympic Gold in Tokyo and the Silver in Paris, as his idol and inspiration.
“He is an inspiration to not just me but the entire country,” Jakhar had said following his triumph in Saudi.
“What he has achieved for India does not happen every day. What I like about his is his work ethic, dedication and humility despite earning so much fame. I always try to learn how he conducts himself during competitions, how he greets his competitors, how he keeps himself so cool during pressure situations,” Jakhar added.
Jakhar also trained alongside legends Chopra and Czech legend and coach Jan Zelezny in South Africa earlier in the year.
“I have been training at the SAI Centre in Hisar under coach Arvind since the last two three years and with better coaching, better equipment, better ground and gym etc, I was able to make the country proud,” Jakhar said.
