Javelin champion Neeraj Chopra was absent at the news conference at the Kalinga Stadium here. Yet his presence could not be missed throughout the event.

Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwala and Asian Games silver medallist javelin thrower Kishore Jena were present, but it was Neeraj whose name came up all the time.

Neeraj landed in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday evening to participate in the National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships. He will be participating in a national tournament for the first time since winning the gold in the Tokyo Olympics on August 7, 2021.

Before his gold medal-winning exploit, Neeraj was just a promising javelin thrower. Now, in 2024, he is a household name. A superstar in his own right.

With the Paris Olympic Games just a little more than two months away, the chance of watching the champion athlete live could be hard to resist for a city which is now busy discussing the electoral prospects of BJD and BJP.

“Hello friends, come in droves to the stadium and support the athletes. I will be participating after three years and the javelin final is on Wednesday. Please fill up the stands and support the athletes,” Neeraj said in a video message shared on X on Monday night.

The AFI has made an exception for its star performer. Earlier, they had made it compulsory for all the athletes to participate in the Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships to be held in Panchkula from June 27-30.

“That is the closing tournament for the Paris Olympic Games qualifications. Since the Paris Diamond League meeting will be clashing with the event, Neeraj will be allowed to skip. We all know how important the Paris event is in the context of the Olympic Games,” Sumariwala said on Tuesday.

The Paris Diamond League meeting is on July 7.

Jena, the local boy, was asked about the opportunity to beat Neeraj in front of the home crowd. He smiled and then said: “We are always there to help each other. He guides me in every way.”

Jena, in his debut Diamond League meeting in Doha last week, finished a disappointing ninth in the 10-man field. “I made some technical mistakes and was overconfident,” he said. “I did not have a good outing but it was a learning experience.”

Neeraj came second behind Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic.

Neeraj’s unprecedented success has also made the federation bosses bullish. “We can win more than one medal in Paris,” Sumariwalla said. “Already 20 athletes have earned Paris qualification, and 15 more could be there. It’s a huge achievement.”

There are two ways the track and field athletes can make the Olympics cut — direct qualification by breaching qualifying mark and through world rankings.

One athlete, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, is yet to qualify. The top shot putter won gold on Tuesday with a throw of 20.38 metres, which was way below his personal best of 21.77m and Paris qualifying mark of 21.50m.

“I was disturbed. There were some health issues in the family,” Toor said.

In the long jump pit, national record holder Jeswin Aldrin came up with a 7.99m jump in the final round to win the gold.

Rosy Meena Paulraj, as expected, won the gold in women’s pole vault event with an effort of 4.05m.

However, her effort was well short of the national record of 4.21m the 26-year-old had set last year.