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Now Jharkhand’s under-17 national record holder Shilpa Kumari has emerged as India’s new hope in women’s javelin throw. Coming from a remote village in Gumla, the tribal district of Jharkhand, Shilpa belongs to a farmer family. She took her initial training at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Ranchi center and is currently the national record holder in women’s under-17 javelin throw.

Neeraj’s gold seen in the village chaupal
Neeraj Chopra’s Tokyo Olympics success proved to be a life-changing moment for Shilpa. He had seen Neeraj winning the gold medal on television along with his neighbors in the Chaupal of his village.

Speaking to SAI Media, Shilpa said, “I saw Neeraj Chopra winning the gold medal in the Olympics. This inspired me to take up the sport of javelin throwing. I want to be like Neeraj sir and win an Olympic medal.” He said, “When I saw the people of my village celebrating Neeraj Chopra’s victory, I decided that winning an Olympic medal in javelin throw would be the goal of my life.”

New path found in Sai Center
This dream of Shilpa moved forward after an athletics trial held at SAI Center in Ranchi. His coach Binod Singh discovered his talent during this trial three years ago.

Binod Singh said, “When I saw her for the first time during a trial at our SAI center three years ago, her natural talent impressed me. At that time she was completely new to the sport but I selected her because of her extremely strong throwing ability. I could see her potential and I thought she had great talent for the future.”

“After starting training at the SAI Center in Ranchi, Shilpa showed tremendous progress. She improved very rapidly and is now one of India’s most talented emerging players in women’s javelin throw,” he said.

The coach also mentioned the financial condition of Shilpa’s family. He said, “Her parents are farmers and they did not have enough resources to provide the necessary support for Shilpa’s sports career. The facilities, training, equipment, diet etc. provided by SAI have helped me transform a raw talent into a shining diamond.”

Came into limelight with a throw of 55.62 meters
The results of the training at SAI were visible in 2025, when Shilpa created a new national record for women under-17 with a throw of 55.62 meters at the 69th National School Games. His performance of 55.62m was even better than India’s under-18 national record of 55.19m. This record was made by Deepika of Haryana in 2023.

However, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) did not recognize Shilpa’s throw as an official record, as this competition was not an officially sanctioned event of World Athletics. Shilpa’s official personal best performance came at the 2025 Junior National Championships, where she finished fifth with a throw of 45.90 metres. This was an improvement of about 10 meters from his previous official performance.

“As a player, my only focus is to give my best performance. If the federation has not officially recorded my throw, I will try to throw even better in my next official competition,” Shilpa said.

Coach confident, Shilpa will make records again
Binod Singh is confident that Shilpa will continue her stellar performance even after reaching the senior level. He said, “Shilpa is not worried about whether her best performance is officially recognized or not. We know what she can do. She will get that performance again.”

Eye on medal in Youth Olympics
Currently, Shilpa’s entire focus is on the Summer Youth Olympics to be held in Dakar, Senegal from 31 October to 13 November 2026.

Shilpa said, “My first goal right now is to make it to the podium in the Youth Olympics. But my ultimate goal is to win an Olympic medal.” Linking her dream to Neeraj Chopra, this confident young player said, “I will dedicate my Olympic medal to Neeraj sir.”