Neeraj Chopra, Hima Das named among national campers for period leading up to 2020 Olympics

Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, teenage quarter-miler Hima Das, and sprinter Dutee Chand appeared among the list of national campers named by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for the period up to the Tokyo Olympics next year. Both Chopra and Das did not take part in the recently-concluded Athletics World Championships due to injury while Chand failed to qualify for the semi-finals after a disappointing run in the heats.

Chand, who broke her own 100m national record during the National Open Athletics Championships in Ranchi, was named as part of a nine-member women’s 4x100m relay team to be based at National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala. Both Chopra and Das have also been named for the aforementioned camp.

Chopra underwent surgery on his right elbow in May and is expected to return to competition by the end of the year while Das pulled out of the showpiece event in Doha in the eleventh hour due to her persistent back injury.

Shot putter Inderjeet Singh, who was handed a four-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) earlier this month, was also included in the list of NIS Patiala campers, but an AFI official later said that his name will be removed.

“The list of national campers keeps on changing and his name was earlier there. So, after his ban by the CAS, he cannot be there. We will remove his name,” an AFI official said to the PTI.

The CAS had overturned the National Anti-Doping Agency’s (NADA) Appeal Panel decision to give a clean chit to Inderjeet.