CHENNAI: Getting a feel of a competition has been one of his yearnings when he was stuck in Patiala during the lockdown since last year and later when competitions in Europe started in around April-May. Having missed out on competition and training in 2019, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra made a return in January last year. After qualifying in South Africa with a throw of 87.86m, there was hardly any competition for him.
The 23-year-old, considered India’s best bet in athletics, had a couple of mediocre competitions before Kourtane where he brushed shoulders with Johannes Vetter of Germany, the thrower who had been breaching the 90-m mark with ease this season, along with a few who would be there at the Olympics.
After getting a feel of competitions and throwing against Vetter, Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago who had 89.12m throw, Neeraj felt it was enough before the Olympics and did not want to risk himself or upset his training schedule. “Visa was an issue and we did not want to upset our training,” he said during an online interaction. He felt instead having some intense training for a few days and then head to the Olympics. As of Sunday, three throwers — Vetter, Walcott (89.12m), Marcin Krukowski (89.55m) — have better mark than Neeraj this season.
The athlete is quite happy training in Uppsala. “Initially, we tried for Koutane where top javelin throwers train but could not get a slot,” he said. “Uppsala is also a nice place with good facilities. It’s the same place where pole vault world champion Armand Duplantis trains.”
Neeraj feels his throw of 86.79m throw was satisfying under the circumstances he threw and expects to improve on that. “Important thing was to get a feel of competing against top players,” he said. “I did not have my javelins as they could not reach Kourtane. I had to use other javelins during the competition.”
Neeraj is also working on the release of the javelin, especially its trajectory. This had been an issue with him but now he felt he has managed to work on it. “It used to drift out of the sector and sometimes gain more height than necessary,” he said. “We have worked on that.”
Even though he is fourth on the list this season, Neeraj felt everything would depend on how one performs on that particular day. “This is my first Olympics so I don’t have the experience but I am sure everything would depend on how I throw on that particular day. The same thing would apply to others as well. I think the qualifying mark too would be high. May be around 85m. But those who will qualify would get two days of rest to recover.”