Diamond League: No encore from Neeraj Chopra

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 1

It is not normal for Neeraj Chopra to start badly in a javelin competition and if occasionally he does, he recovers quickly. However, the reigning Olympics and world champion looked out of sorts in the Zurich leg of the Diamond League yesterday.

After starting the competition with an unimpressive 80.79 metres, the 25-year-old registered two consecutive foul throws. Fifth after three attempts, Chopra then recovered with a throw of 85.22m to climb up to second. After another foul, he improved his distance to 85.71m to secure the second place finish. Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch finished on top with a throw of 85.86m. Germany’s Julian Weber finished third with 85.04m.

Chopra said that since there was hardly any time between the World Championships in Budapest and the Zurich meet, he perhaps could not go all-out in this competition.

“It was like I was competing in three competitions in a week’s time,” Chopra said. “During the World Championships qualification, I had to be prepared. It was only one throw but it is the same process. Then in the final, I had to go all-out. We had to then travel from Budapest to Zurich. We (athletes) were all tired but my focus was to stay healthy and enjoy the competition,” he added.

“One can relax in a competition like this as unlike the Worlds we are not representing the country. I wanted to take part and enjoy the competition. Now I have qualified for the Diamond League Finals but yes I did not push that hard to stay healthy,” he added.

Chopra, who is the first Indian track and field athlete to win back-to-back World Championships medals, also touched upon the fatigue factor. “I was fatigued, yes. I did a lot of warm-up throws yesterday and that may have played a part. It took a while for me to get warmed up. I was struggling in the first three throws as I was not feeling the rhythm in my run-up. I did not feel that I was fully warmed up for the competition. I pushed myself in the last three throws,” he said.

“I had only one training session in Zurich. The day I won in Budapest, I slept very late as there was a medal ceremony and I had to give my sample, so it was like three-four in the morning. We stayed there for a day and then we came to Zurich and had a session but you get tired from all this travel,” he added.

The next big competition where Chopra will be seen in action will be the Diamond League Finals in Eugene, USA, on September 16-17. It will be followed by the Asian Games, which begin a week later in Hangzhou, China. Chopra will have to find a way to peak at both the events. “There is hardly any time between those competitions. I have to be prepared for both Eugene and the Asian Games. The main thing is the travel time and it will be a problem. I have to give it my all at the Diamond League Finals and at the Asian Games, which will the last competition for me this year. There is no time but I have to be mentally prepared and be mindful of recovery, nutrition and plan it well,” he said.

Defending Olympics title

The Czech great Jan Zelezny is the only javelin thrower to win three Olympics gold medals, and Neeraj Chopra said the only way he could match his icon’s feat is by staying focussed and injury-free. “It is possible if we stay focused. I want to repeat those titles and I will do everything that I can to make it happen,” Chopra said. “To win for the first time was a big challenge for me. But now there will be bigger challenges ahead as everybody will be ready. There will be more pressure on me as there is a lot of expectation on me to do well. The important thing is to stay away from injury,” he added.

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