Legendary Kenyan athlete Julius Yego is in Bengaluru to compete in the Neeraj Chopra classic. Yego, in an exclusive interview says that his and Neeraj's journies are the same.
00:00Hello Julius, it's an honour speaking to you. Welcome to India today.
00:04You know, I just want to start by asking how has India been?
00:08It's been like 2-3 days since you've been here. How has your experience so far?
00:12Thank you. This is my second time being in India.
00:16My first time was in 2010 when I came for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
00:20So I think this place is good. I like the place.
00:24The weather looks nice and it's good for the javelin throw.
00:28Yeah, I like this place.
00:30The last time you were in Delhi, the weather was completely different there, I think.
00:34But, you know, talking about coming to Neeraj Chopra Classic.
00:38What was the thing that told you, okay, Neeraj just called me, I have to go.
00:42What pushed you to come here?
00:44You know, we wanted to make the sport popular in our countries.
00:48If you see the story of Neeraj Chopra and my story is more or less the same.
00:52countries where this sport has not been really, you know, having the same attention as other sports.
00:58And yeah, you know, it's the love for the sport.
01:02You know, the dream to make the sport popular in Kenya and India and across many other countries that are not doing so well in javelin.
01:08It's what really pushed me. Yes, Neeraj is my good friend.
01:12I want to support him because you never know what is in stake in the future.
01:17I might need his support.
01:19So it's this time now that, you know, we needed to show him.
01:22And, you know, it's all about, you know, bringing the sport closer to the younger generation
01:27so that he can even see himself physically, not only on TV, to see, you know, the great javelin throwers in India.
01:37And, you know, make the sport even grow better.
01:40How was it, as in like, you spoke about you and Neeraj having a similar story, Julius.
01:45How was it that in a country that, you know, prioritizes long distance running and prioritizes a little bit of cricket at that time as well?
01:53How did you get to javelin? As in like, how did you fall in love with the sport?
01:59You know, I believe maybe I was born with maybe somewhere in my blood is written javelin.
02:06I love the sport itself. It's really a good sport.
02:08And it's one of the ancient sport, one of the first sports in the Olympics.
02:13And, you know, in the ancient creek and the level it has reached now, it's, we want even to make it even grow bigger and bigger.
02:21And I think it's the talent I was given by God. And yeah, there's nothing I could do about it.
02:26Yeah, I love the sport, even though the beginning was so difficult, but then, you know, pushing barriers is all what we do.
02:34And I started it in Kenya and hopefully the coming years we will have many javelin throwers coming from Kenya.
02:41Is it true that you started throwing sticks in your father's farm when you started out? Is that true?
02:47And can you just explain that a little bit of early story of a few years ago, how he started throwing javelins?
02:54As you said, yes, we started with sticks, but it was not about, you know, to throw the javelins. It was just a kid's play.
03:01And I realized later, you know, when I was in high school that it is a big sport. In 2004, when I watched the Olympics in Athens and, you know, Andreas Stolgisten was winning at that moment.
03:15I was a young athlete. So watching itself, you know, it got me a lot of interest that I can start to take it more seriously, even though the infrastructure in Kenya, of course, was not good.
03:32The system of education also doesn't support much of the sport. It was always, you know, you do it when it's the time to do it. And immediately after that, everything ends.
03:42So we started doing that as a kid's sport, throwing with my brothers, my friends in the, you know, in the villages, you know, the close family, friends as kids doing that as a, you know, height and seek play game.
03:57But then we never knew it was going to be big like this. So, yeah, it's really grown. The rest is history.
04:03But then, yeah, we started it that way. And then I think many, many athletes at some point started somewhere. Yeah. And they are somewhere now. Yeah.
04:13So you have watched a lot of YouTube videos when you started out. Neeraj also has had a similar journey. So what do you want to tell kids who want to take up the sport as in just go into it?
04:23And then what about the other things, coaching and all that? What would your advice be to the kids who are aspiring to become javelin throwers?
04:30I would say it's not all, it's not all about watching. It's all about, you know, what, what you get from watching these videos.
04:38What do you, what do you really intend to do with watching those videos? Because we need, you need when you are watching these videos.
04:45And you have that dream of making it in the sport itself. It's about the passion. Yeah. Everything now is all about, you know, you take the videos and you watch later.
04:57Even in training, we do that. So it's the same thing. It's become a normal way of doing things. The sport is all about videos.
05:06Now, analysis of the videos you are doing in training and all that. So it's all about you watch it and make it as a reality.
05:13Don't just watch it because it's, you can easily find it anywhere. Even on your phone, you can watch it. But then watch it and grow it. You know, grow into it. Make it a positive impact on your life.
05:26Yeah. And you spoke about friendship a lot in the press conference. Is Javelin one of the most friendliest track events? Can we see a bit of heated rivalry or is it going to be like this?
05:36And you have a reputation of, you know, helping out others even during competitions. So what do you, what is the reason behind this camaraderie between Javelin throwers at this stage?
05:45I think it is, it is a normality that we got it. When I, when I joined the sport, you know, Jan Selesny and Andreas Tolgisten, they were always speaking to us.
05:55Even as young athletes, we never knew what was coming after that. But then, so it's something we got, which was there. And then we had to make it, you know, the tradition was there.
06:04And I would say Javelin is one of the events that has, the competitors are so friendly. If you follow the field events, they are very friendly, the short put, even the pole vault.
06:14If you watch the planties and his group, they are really supporting themselves. So it's all about, you know, apart from the sport, we are not enemies.
06:21We're friends. After the sport, we go back to our normal lives. So why would I create an enmity with my competitor? Yeah.
06:28Julius, you're 36 now, but you're still going strong. And there has been a curve, ups and downs in your career. What is your goal as in now, immediate goal? And are you targeting 2028?
06:39For me, I think now it's about taking it step by step. I don't want to give myself big dreams again. I achieved what was possible. Being a world champion, still Olympic silver medalist, appearing at every other championship since 2010.
06:54He is big. I think I'm one of the few athletes who have really maintained to be in every major championship, even at his age. So for me, it's taking every year differently.
07:05Of course, I want to make even more history to be in LA 2028. That will be my fifth Olympics appearance. But then if my body allows me, I will try. But I don't want to have such big dreams that I want to be.
07:17Of course, you can be there. But then what is the level of competition? Are you able to challenge to win a medal? Last year, many people never thought that I will be able to even to be in the finals.
07:29Leave alone even making to Paris to be in the finals. But I was among the fifth, you know, the top five in the world at that moment. And you could see the level of competition.
07:39If it was 2021 when Neeraj was winning the Olympics, I was capable of winning the Olympics. So it's all about the level of competition that matters.
07:47And one final question. What's your message to your good friend Neeraj Chopra? Where do you want to see him go in his career?
07:54I wish him all the best. You know, of course, this event has been a success. Some few hours to the competition.
08:01So we want to make it happen for him. So I wish him all the very best in his ambitions. He wants to throw even more 90 meters.
08:08We challenged him. I challenged him yesterday that we will push you. If our bodies still allow us to throw over 90 meters, we will challenge you even so that you can even throw further.
08:18He's still young. He still have the energy of doing many years to come. But of course, it's all about making the sport popular and making, you know, having good throws.
