New Delhi: Despite a rare blip in form, Neeraj Chopra was the biggest saving grace for India’s doping-marred athletics landscape after getting the 90m “monkey off his back” even as the sport’s administrators worked towards making the country a hub of big-ticket events in a bitter-sweet 2025.
The 27-year-old Chopra went past the coveted mark, considered the gold standard in javelin throw, in the Doha Diamond League but suffered a heartbreak when he failed to win a medal in the World Championships final in Tokyo later in the year.
Young Sachin Yadav outperformed Chopra to emerge as a potential world-class javelin thrower with a fourth-place finish.
But the doping menace showed no signs of decline with several top Indians caught in the net, including Olympian javelin thrower Shivpal Singh and former Asian Games medallist discus thrower Seema Punia.
An athlete-coach duo was also suspended for doping in a first of its kind instance, while two minor athletes too joined the Hall of Shame.
There was a silver lining though, as India staged two World Athletics Continental Tour events, with Chopra hosting and winning one of them.
The country also mounted bids on some high-profile continental and global events, including the 2031 World Athletics Championships with Ahmedabad as the proposed venue.
Marriage and 90m high for Chopra
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One of the most eligible bachelors in the country, Chopra tied the knot with tennis player Himani Mor in an intimate ceremony in a private resort in Himachal Pradesh with just a few close relatives and family members present.
The outside world got to know of the event only after Chopra himself posted the marriage photos in his social media handles.
A few months later, Chopra sent his spear to 90.23m to become the third Asian and 25th overall to achieve the feat.
Chopra clinched three more major titles — the Paris Diamond League, the Golden Spike meet and the inaugural NC Classic. He realised his dream of hosting a world-class event in front of the home crowd and family members.
He, however, came up short in the Diamond League Finals, finishing second to German Julian Weber. He was bidding to regain the trophy he had won in 2022, but was barely able to touch the 85m mark.
But the most unexpected happened during the World Championships in Tokyo in September at the very venue where he achieved fame and Olympic gold in 2021.
Struggling with back pain, defending champion Chopra was ousted after the fifth and penultimate round with a best effort of 84.03m that left him eighth overall.
He was outperformed by debutant compatriot Yadav (86.27m) who logged a creditable fourth-place finish.
Chopra, who had also won a silver in the 2022 edition, has not finished outside the top-2 since winning gold in 2021 Tokyo Games. After that, he has either won or finished second in 24 international events.
Never-ending doping menace
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India continued to occupy the second spot in the global list of athletes ineligible to compete due to doping offences, with 128 athletes in the list released by Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).
Some of the country’s top athletes caught for doping included Shivpal, Pune Half Marathon winner Pradhan Vilas Kirulakar, sprinter Sekar Dhanalakshmi and 2014 Asian Games medallist hammer thrower Manju Bala.
Two minors were also handed three-year bans by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
Former Indian junior team head coach Ramesh Nagpuri was suspended for “complicity” in doping.
Two more coaches — Karamveer Singh and Rakesh — were also suspended for “complicity” and “administration of prohibited substances” respectively.
Asian Games silver medal-winning long distance runner Kartik Kumar accepted a three-year ban from the US Anti-Doping Agency after testing positive for a range of banned anabolic agents during out-of-competition tests there.
Towards the end of the year, 18-year-old Sanjana Singh, who had won gold medals in women’s 1500m and 5000m in the SAAF Senior Athletics Championships in Ranchi, and her coach Sandeep Singh were provisionally suspended for a doping offence.
Later, former Asian Games gold-winning discus thrower Seema Punia got a 16-month ban for failing a dope test, adding to her checkered doping record, which included two previous violations, one of them at the junior level when she was merely 17.
Alarmed by the rising doping cases, the AFI set up an anti-doping cell to track down coaches and training centres suspected to be involved in substance abuse.
It also made it mandatory for all coaches — qualified and unqualified — to register on its portal from this season onwards if they wanted to continue training athletes. It will also not recommend anyone who trains with unregistered coaches for national honours like the Arjuna and Khel Ratna award.
However, except for relay runners, no other athlete currently trains at national camps under the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). Most of them train individually or at the National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs) managed by the Sports Authority of India (SAI). Some of them also train at private facilities administered by entities such as Reliance Foundation and JSW Sports.
India as hosts of international events
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India successfully hosted a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze level meet on August 10 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. The event will be upgraded to silver level next year, to be held at the same venue on August 22, 2026.
India also made bids for 2028 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships — with Bhubaneswar as venue — and the 2026 Asian Relays.
The AFI decided to introduce the National Indoor Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar in March next year, to prepare for the 2028 Asian Indoor Championships for which it has made a bid.
Meanwhile, Adille Sumariwalla’s reign as AFI chief came to an end with 2002 Asian Games gold-winning shot putter Bahadur Sagoo replacing him.
