The javelin touched 86.24m in his third throw to be placed in second place. Any mortal would have clenched his fist and yelled. Not Neeraj Chopra. On a slightly windy Doha night, the spear was not taking his command. He had a glum look; he craved to throw further. On good days, he never leaves it too late. Three throws are enough but in Doha on Friday, his last throw was the best. That’s the two new sides of Neeraj. One, that wants to win every time he throws. The other? Saving the best for the last.
Just two centimetres separated the first and second throwers at the Doha Diamond League. On the scale of the universe, it is just a tiny speck. On the field of play, that margin is huge – it determines the positions you finish. It meant that Chopra finished behind Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch. 88.38m and 88.36m were the top two distances.
A second place may look a bit way off from the scripted tale but in the larger context of the season, with the Olympics just over two months away, this is just as good. After all, life is not measured in metres and centimetres but a sum of all good things and mundane. Yet for a world accustomed to seeing Neeraj on the top step of the podium, second seemed a tad miserable. Such is the craze and expectation in this Olympic sports-star-starved nation that a small two-centimetre separation was enough to cause consternation and anxiety.
Like his coach Klaus Bartonietz always says, the season opener can be tricky. It’s a competition where you put your training to test. “Consistency has been my strong point and maybe, this is one of my greatest strengths. I will throw over 90m but consistency is more important,” he had said a day before the Doha DL.
Neeraj never ceases to amaze. Ever since he was crowned the Olympic Champion in Tokyo in 2021, his confidence has been running high. In a recent interaction too, he had spoken about how he expects to win every time he competes. There is a complete transformation in the way he has been competing too.
After the Tokyo high, he was crowned the world champion in Budapest last year. In between Tokyo and Budapest, he was crowned the Diamond League champion. Sometimes, it seems he has the Midas touch. Whatever he has been touching has turned into gold. Like, he said, before the season: “The confidence level is high. And I expect to win every time I throw in a competition. I have won quite a few events as well. I won the silver and gold at the World Championships, and the Diamond League Trophy and threw well and retained the Asian Games crown. So it was good. Mentally and physically, I think I’m prepared for the Olympics.”
Neeraj still feels there’s a lot to achieve. “I don’t think I will say that I am the greatest of all time because there’s always some effort left to perform better. Everyone used to say that the Worlds gold was left but I feel even now, I have to improve a lot. The greatest of all time is perhaps like (Jan) Zelezny,” he had said. Zelezny is considered to be the gold standard in men’s javelin.
Arguably, Chopra is already one of the best Olympic athletes the country has produced. His effect is there for the world to see. Apart from Chopra, two other men have qualified (Kishore Jena and DP Manu). All these are positives and he hoped to inspire more in the years to come. Neeraj would love to silence the 90m debate as well.
“The most important competition for me is the Paris Olympics, but Diamond League meetings are important too. This was the opener for me this season, I finished second with a narrow two-centimetre margin, but next time I will try to draw far and try to win.” Win it is.