Asian Para Games gold medallist Neeraj Yadav dies by suicide

New Delhi: Three-time Asian Para Games javelin throw champion Neeraj Yadav committed suicide at his flat on Tuesday; national chief para-athletics coach S. Satyanarayana confirmed the development to IANS.

“Yes, Neeraj has died by suicide at his flat. This is extremely unfortunate and tragic. The cause behind the extreme step is yet to be ascertained,” Satyanarayana told IANS on Wednesday.

Neeraj, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, was among India’s accomplished para-athletes. He started his athletics career in 2015 after playing wheelchair tennis for about seven years. He won silver in the men’s shot put and discus F55 event at the Fazza Grand Prix in 2016. At the 2018 Asian Para Games, he won a gold medal with an Asian Record of 29.84 metres.

Neeraj won two gold medals at the 2022 Asian Para Games at Hangzhou, China, in October 2023, winning gold in discus throw in the F54/55/56 class and added the javelin gold in the men’s F55 category.

In 2022, he won gold at the Marrakech Para Athletics Grand Prix in Morocco with a new Indian National record. It has been a test for Neeraj since birth.

Diagnosed with polio at the age of 7, his constant companion has been his wheelchair. He started his athletics career in 2015 after playing wheelchair tennis for about seven years. It did not take long for Neeraj to get noticed, and soon, he was in the Indian squad. But it was a gold medal in the javelin F55 class at the Indonesia 2018 Asian Para Games that gave him his due recognition. His breakthrough came at the 2015 Delhi State Athletics Meet, where he won gold medals in the shot put, javelin and discus events.