Fifteen months later, the 19-year-old is a World Under-20 silver medallist and is still looking for a job to support his family. Ashish moved to the IIS-SAI Centre in Hisar in April 2025 to train under coach Arvind Kumar. Since then, his throw has improved by nearly 20 metres. At the U-20 global showpiece, he became the second Indian, after two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, to win a javelin silver. Chopra had won gold and set the still-standing world junior record of 86.48m in the 2016 edition in Poland.
Before moving to Hisar last year to pursue his javelin career, Ashish Yadav helped his father sell milk in their village in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh.
“My father is a milkman, he sells milk at our village in Mirzapur. My father has six brothers, three soldiers and three farmers. “Always a great feeling to see Indian athletes competing and winning at the International level, this one is a little more special for me as a javelin thrower. “I have not met him. “But I don’t want myself to be compared with him, I can’t do that. Instead, I want to work hard. In our village there is nobody who does javelin. I hope people in my village knows the sport and start playing. I went to lab for rehab and my rehab was going on. After the rehab, I went to the competition. So, I couldn’t throw my best. Still, I got a medal for the country. Ashish now wants to work on his strength and technique and hopes to cross 80m within the next year or two.
Super proud of you Ashish on your Silver at the U-20 Worlds, this is just the start!
I feel bad when my father sells milk,” Ashish told PTI in an interaction facilitated by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). Chopra said on his social media handles. How can I meet him so soon?” said Ashish. Knee injury hampered him during World U20 ============================= Ashish said a knee-injury hampered his preparations for the global junior showpiece. He said he suffered from ‘Posterolateral Corner (PLC)’ injury, which damages the group of ligaments, tendons, and joint structures on the outer back side of the knee. “Our physiotherapist told me that there is a problem in my PLC.
Before the competition (World U20), I was not able to throw on the ground.
