India’s Olympic javelin throw champion Neeraj Chopra and Ukraine’s World Athletics Female Field Event Athlete of the Year Yaroslava Mahuchikh have had their competition artifacts included in the World Athletics Heritage Collection. The Museum of World Athletics (MOWA) will showcase these historic artifacts on an online 3D platform, marking a significant effort to celebrate the history and pride of athletics.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe expressed his satisfaction with this achievement and thanked the athletes who donated their competition items, such as clothing, shoes, and medals, to the museum in 2024. He highlighted that this year, the museum also received historic items from legendary athletes like Wyomia Tyus and Billy Mills from the 1960s, Olympic 100m champion Allan Wells from 1980, and heptathlon gold medalists Denise Lewis and Nataliya Dobrynska from 2000 and 2008, respectively.
Neeraj Chopra, who won India’s first-ever gold medal in athletics at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, donated the competition T-shirt he wore during the Paris 2024 Olympics to MOWA. At Paris 2024, he secured a silver medal with an 89.45m throw, while Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem claimed gold with a new Olympic record of 92.97m.
Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who broke the world high jump record with a 2.10m leap at the Paris Diamond League and won the Olympic title, also donated her Paris Olympic singlet, name bib, and shorts. Mahuchikh handed these items to Coe during the 2024 World Athletics Awards in Monaco.
Dominica’s athlete Thea LaFond, who won the Olympic triple jump title in Paris with a national record of 15.02m, becoming the country’s first Olympic medalist, donated the crop top she wore during her gold-medal-winning competition. LaFond also won a gold medal at the 2024 World Indoor Championships with another national record.
The collection of these artifacts not only honors the achievements of these athletes but also represents an important step in preserving the history and legacy of the global athletics community.
