NEW DELHI: Neeraj Chopra’s prowess with the javelin was there for millions to see as he secured a historic Olympic gold in Tokyo. But the 23-year-old refused to sleep on his laurels and is now targetting that elusive medal which has escaped his grasp till now — a World Championship yellow metal.
Seated beside the first Indian to win a World Athletics Championships medal and current AFI senior vice-president Anju Bobby George, Neeraj admitted winning at the Worlds will be an even tougher test.
“I have already won gold in Asian Games and Commonwealth Games and now an Olympic gold. So my next target is winning gold in World Championships,” Chopra said.
“World Championships is big a competition and sometimes tougher than the Olympics. I am not going to be content with this Olympic gold.” The World Championships will be held in US in 2022. The best way to win top honours there will most likely involve crossing the elusive 90m mark which the Panipat-born athlete has been working towards. “I will be working on correcting a few things in my technique including the throwing angle. Hopefully, if I keep working hard, I will be able to achieve my goal. I wanted to do it this year but an Olympic gold arrived which is the most important thing.”
Shedding light on the start of his career, the javelin thrower mentioned how his inclusion into the national camp by AFI back in 2015 despite him finishing fifth during the National Games in Kerala was a turning point in his career. Prior to the shift, he was training at Tau Devi Lal Stadium at Panchkula and Shivaji Stadium at Panipat. “We trained well but the facilities, equipment, diet were not that good but once I joined the national camp everything changed. I got better facilities, better diet and equipment. And the most important thing is the feeling that I am training along with the best. That is a different feeling. So, joining the national camp changed my career and I want to thank the AFI for that.” Neeraj has so far worked with late Australian coach Gary Calvert, former world record holder Uwe Hohn before switching to train under bio-mechanics expert Klaus Bertonietz who was there with him at Tokyo.
“I respect Hohn sir, I won gold in 2018 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games under him. But his technical approach and style of training was different. I told him that I want to work with Klaus sir. Klaus’ training plans were good and suited me. He plans training according to the body of the athlete, he has also worked with a lot of athletes in different countries.”
Apart from the gold medallist, AFI also felicitated the men’s 4x400m relay team, Kamalpreet Kaur and Avinash Sable.
National Javelin Day
The AFI announced that August 7 would be celebrated as National Javelin Throw Day every year with competitions in all states and Union Territories to commemorate Neeraj Chopra’s feat of winning the country’s first athletics gold medal in the Olympics.