Neeraj Chopra was identified young and trained by Army, says official
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Army to begin training sportswomen within this year.
Neeraj Chopra was identified many years back for his exceptional talent by then national coach for javelin Subedar Kashinath and then recruited into the Army in 2016, said an officer from the Mission Olympics Wing and Army Sports Institute (ASI), Pune. The Army is also set to start training women sports persons in national sports at ASI within this year.
“Subedar Kashinath was the national coach for javelin from 2013 to 2018 and a medal winner himself. He informed the ASI that there is a boy who is throwing the javelin over 80m. He was then approached and recruited into the Army,” the officer said. It’s not just the gold medal by Subedar Chopra at the Tokyo Olympics but 16 of the sportspersons from the Indian contingent were from the ASI.
Subedar Chopra on Tuesday met Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat and Army Chief Gen. Manoj Naravane. He was recruited in the 4 Rajputana Rifles as a direct entry Naib Subedar on May 15, 2016 after which he was selected for training at the Mission Olympics Wing and the ASI.
On training sportswomen, the officer said women are now being recruited as soldiers into Military Police and they have already identified seven for boxing. “Within the year, we should have the first sportswomen in the Army.”
There is a sports quota under which candidates with potential are identified and recruited into the Army. They are then provided the support and training to excel in the sports of their choice.
“About 15-20% of medals in the last three Asian Games and three Commonwealth Games are from the ASI which today is one of the best sports establishments in the country,” another officer said.
Training in 11 disciplines
The Mission Olympics Wing(MOW) of the Army identifies and trains sportsmen in 11 disciplines at five Mission Olympics Nodes to excel in various national and international competitions. It was set up by Gen. Padmanabhan when he was the Army Chief to contribute to the national efforts of furthering sporting culture. It has five nodes for various disciplines.
The ASI has supported Sub Chopra in terms of performance monitoring and equipment support among others. “The Army has supported him all along in terms of backend coordination.” There are many stakeholders including the Sports Authority of India and federations behind his success, the officer said. “The silent one is the Army.”
For going to Olympics, one has to go through national camps held by the federations. The Army supports sportspersons in reaching that level so that they can compete at the national and international level, the officer said.
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