Neeraj Chopra, Parul Chaudhary honoured with 'Best Athlete of the Year 2025' awards by AFI

Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya gave the award to Neeraj, who recently made a start to his 2026 season by booking his place at the upcoming Commonwealth Games after comfortably breaching the qualification mark at the Doha Diamond League on Friday.

Speaking while receiving the award, Neeraj had a message for the youth to keep working hard in their field and stay patient. He also spoke on how Indians feel that European and American athletes are stronger, but he feels that "Indians have the capability within them to achieve anything."

"My only advice is to keep working hard on the field and remain patient. Never rush things, because you have your entire career ahead of you. Stay safe from injuries, always listen to your team, and believe in yourself. The biggest thing is that we Indians think that Europeans or Americans are stronger, but I feel we have the capability within us to achieve anything. As you can see, we are performing so well, and I believe there is a whole career ahead. Just have faith and patience, and amazing things will happen," he said.

Speaking on his return to action in Doha, he said, "Got to compete after so long, and it was a good throw. There is a lot of year remaining, and I will do better."

Neeraj finished fourth in the Doha Diamond League yesterday, marking his first competition of the 2026 season. The 28-year-old, who had missed the last eight months due to a back injury, registered a foul throw on his first attempt but eventually found his groove to get a throw of 85.69 metres, finishing fourth in what was a mixed bag return to competitive sport for him.

Before this, he had finished eighth at the Tokyo World Athletics Championships, failing to defend his world title and managing a best throw of just 84.03 metres.

Also, Parul Chaudhary, the Indian steeplechase athlete, was honoured with the 'Best Female Athlete of the Year 2025' award.

Last month, Chaudhary narrowly missed out on breaking her own national record in women's 3000 metre steeplechase at the Shanghai Diamond League 2026. During the prestigious high-profile athletics event, Parul clocked timings of 9:12.84, which officially kick-started her season. She finished seventh.

Parul fell just 0.38 seconds short of her national record, which she accomplished during her gold-winning Asian Athletics Championships performance in Gumi last year. She improved the national record to 9:12.96, but 30 years old runner from Uttar Pradesh had to be satisfied with a silver medal. (ANI)