Neeraj Chopra to power up for Paris, starting with Diamond League

PTI

Doha, May 9

Olympics champion Neeraj Chopra’s Paris Games preparations will be put through a stern test when he begins his season in the first leg of the Diamond League against a star-studded but familiar field tomorrow.

90m mark on mind

Neeraj Chopra said he would rather break the 90m mark than talk about it. “Last year I said I will throw 90m and threw 88m. This year, I don’t want to say, I want to show,” he said. “People have been asking me this question since 2018. I really want to break the barrier this year. Even last year, I had said that Doha is famous for 90m. But, we were not lucky due to too much of headwind. But maybe tomorrow we’ll have a good day,” he said.

The 26-year-old javelin superstar, who is also the reigning world and Asian Games champion, will be up against the likes of former world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada and Olympics and world medallist Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic.

Asian Games silver medallist Kishore Jena will also be in the fray as he makes his Diamond League debut. Jena has a personal best of 87.54 metres while Chopra’s all-time best is 89.94m, which is also the national record.

“I think I am ready for tomorrow. I really like to be consistent, it is one of my greatest weapons. I will throw over 90m but consistency is more important,” Chopra said.

European champion Julian Weber of Germany, fourth in the Olympic Games and World Championships, will also compete in the 10-man field. The league will then move to Morocco on May 19.

Chopra is also the defending champion as he had set the tone for his title-laden 2023 season with a victory ahead of Vadlejch and Peters. Chopra has won three individual legs of Diamond League and lifted the champion’s trophy in 2022.

‘Too many functions at home’

After this event, Chopra will compete at home for the first time in three years at the National Federation Cup to be held in Bhubaneswar from May 12 to 15. Jena will also be taking part in the event.

Based abroad for training most of the time, Chopra has acknowledged that his stardom sometimes comes in the way of training and competing in India.

“For me more important is my sport. It’s good for my profile if I play in India but there are too many functions, marriage functions. I also want to join my family and friends but more than that, I want to train in an Olympics year,” said Chopra, who has spent the better part of the last few months training in South Africa, Turkey and Switzerland.

“Before Tokyo (Olympics), I always trained in India but right now I just want to focus on my game. I will train in India later,” added.

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