AFI recommends Olympic-bound javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra for Khel Ratna

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has recommended the name of javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Neera Chopra's name is being recommended for the Khel Ratna Award. He had earlier won the Arjuna Award in 2018 after bagging gold at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

"Neeraj is a deserving candidate, he has won so many medals for the country but still he has not won the Khel Ratna yet. I hope this time committee looks into this," sources within the AFI told ANI.

The AFI has also put forward the name of Arpinder Singh, PU Chitra, and Manjit Singh for the Arjuna Award.

Last week, Tokyo-bound Chopra won the bronze medal at the Kuortane Games in Finland.

Neeraj Chopra's 86.79m throw helped him finish behind world number one and 2017 world champion Johannes Vetter of Germany and London 2012 gold medallist Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, reported the official Olympics website.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports had earlier decided to extend the last date of submission of application for the upcoming National Sports Awards 2021. Earlier, the last date for submitting applications was June 21. The nominations/applications from the eligible sportspersons/ coaches/ entities/ universities were invited for the award and they were to be e-mailed as per an official statement from the ministry.

Manika Batra, Rohit Sharma, Vinesh Phogat, Rani Rampal, and Mariyappan Phangavelu were awarded the Khel Ratna Award last year and it was the first time that five athletes received the honour in the same year.