New Delhi, India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India recently managed to get their hands on a javelin that was used by Tokyo Olympics champion Neeraj Chopra. The javelin was part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's collection of mementoes.
It was placed on sale in an e-auction that was conducted back in 2021, in a bid to raise money for the 'Namami Gange Program', which was launched way back in 2014 and works in tandem with other organisations to clean the Ganga river.
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Per reports that were released by Press Trust of India, the BCCI placed a winning bid that was worth a whopping Rs. 1.5 crore to ascertain the possession of the valuable javelin.
"BCCI had made the winning bid for Neeraj's javelin. But we also bid for a couple of other collectibles. It (Namami Gange) is a noble cause and the office bearers in BCCI felt that as one of the premier sporting bodies in the country, we had a duty towards the nation," read the report published by the PTI.
What makes the javelin so special is the fact that it was one among multiple javelins that were used by Chopra over the course of his Tokyo Olympics campaign. In addition to the javelin, the BCCI also won possession of an angavastra that had been signed by the entire Paralympic contingent. For the latter, the BCCI parted ways with a shocking Rs. 1 crore.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi managed to acquire the one-of-a-kind green-coloured Valhalla 800 Hard NXS javelin when Chopra presented the javelin as a present to the PM when the former hosted Indian athletes at his residence after they made their triumphant return from the Tokyo Olympics.
Other collectables sold at the auction in addition to the javelin and the angavastra, were bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain's boxing gloves, Paralympic champion Sumit Antil's javelin, and fencer Bhavani Devi's sword.