Neeraj Chopra to return from Turkey after COVID-19 travel advisory

The Athletics Federation of India is running against the clock to bring back javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra from Turkey before March 18.

Neeraj Chopra is currently training in Turkey and the Athletics Federation of India is working on bringing him back at the earliest.

With India deciding to close its doors to passengers arriving from many countries including the European Union, Turkey and the United Kingdom from March 18 to contain the spread of coronavirus, there is a scramble to bring back star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra to the country.

RELATED|

Neeraj and fellow javelin thrower Rohit Yadav are currently training in Turkey and the Athletics Federation of India is working on bringing them back immediately.

“We are trying to bring them back tomorrow itself if there is a flight available but many flights are cancelled,” an AFI official on Monday night.

India will have two men javelin represents at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as Neeraj and Shivpal Singh have both made the cut.

Neeraj, in his first event since recovering from an elbow injury, sealed his Olympic ticket when he threw 87.86m at the Athletics Central North East Meeting League meeting in South Africa back in January.

RELATED|

Shivpal also sealed his berth as he crossed the qualifying standard of 85m by hurling the spear to a distance of 85.47m in his fifth attempt to win gold in the ACNW Meeting at the McArthur Stadium in early March.