The reigning Olympic champion, Arshad Nadeem, declined Neeraj Chopra’s invitation for the NC Classic Javelin meet as this will clash with his training schedule for the upcoming Asian Championships.

Earlier, Neeraj Chopra told to media in his press conference that he sent an invitation to the top javelin throwers, including Arshad Nadeem, for this meet, which will take place in Bengaluru on 24th May.

Arshad, however, said he was grateful to Chopra for inviting him to the event. “The (NC) Classic event is from 20th May (May 24), whereas I am scheduled to leave for Korea on 22nd May for the Asian Athletics Championship,” He said.

He said he had been training hard for the Asian Championship, which will be held in Gumi, Korea, from May 27 to 31.

Arshad hasn’t participated on the international circuit since his maiden Olympic gold medal in Paris Last year, where he denied Neeraj Chopra, who settled for a silver medal, a double Olympic gold.

The NC Classic will be the first-ever Javelin-only meet to be hosted by India, which has earned an ‘A’ category status from World Athletics.

Alongside Neeraj Chopra, it has many top names like double world champion, Anderson Peters of Grenada, and the former Olympic medalists, Thomas Rohler of Germany and Julius Yego of Kenya.