CHENNAI: Summing up, it was an exceptional year. Neeraj Chopra's CV swelled in just over a year Olympic Champion, World Championships silver and now a Diamond League title Diamond Trophy.
For an athlete, this is the proverbial El Dorado in a non-Olympic year. For Neeraj, it's the culmination of a series of consistent performances and at times his efforts looked ridiculously effortless. He ended the season the way he started on a high.
Neeraj had been so consistent that his top throws had an average above 88.50m. His series looked delectable: June 30 at Stockholm: 89.94m, June 14 at Paavo Nurmi Games: 89.30m, August 26 at Lausanne: 89.08m, September 8 at Zurich: 88.44m, and July 21 at Oregon (Q): 88.39m and 88.13 in final.
The beginning though was not easy. The training for the season had started late and Neeraj would not want to repeat those mistakes that led to him missing so many days of training. It was not easy to make a comeback after adding a good 13-14kg.
After an eventful season, he has become wiser and felt that he would try to avoid taking up assignments that would force him to stay away from training. He will also be taking a conscious effort to keep a check on his food intake.
"I will not rest more and not eat too much and keep my weight in check," he said during an interaction. Getting back to fitness was one of the toughest parts for him and his coach Klaus Bartonietz. Shedding those unwanted ounces was the most difficult part of the training.
Balancing social and commercial commitments was not easy either. "It was a new experience for me and I did not know how to balance all those commitments," said the 24-year-old. "I have learnt from my mistakes and this time I will do things differently. Even dates for commercials will be planned in advance. I will chalk out a training programme with my coach soon. I will focus on training."
After completing the season Neeraj is taking a break. His groin strain needs some attention and would spend some time with his family who have joined him in Zurich. "I want to spend some time with them," he said. "My uncle who helped me pursue my dream is here."
Since Neeraj had planned the season well in advance with his coach Klaus, Zurich was the last competition. Also, his groin strain too needed attention. "I am taking a break as my family is also here. Also, I am coming back from a groin injury and I may not be able to train for a week or so. Under the circumstances, it will be difficult for me to compete at the National Games," he said.
As for the season, Neeraj seemed quite satisfied with whatever he could achieve. "Technique-wise I have improved," he said. "Javelin is a technical game. Earlier, I had to put in more effort but the result was not the same. Now with improved technique, I am getting better results without putting in as much effort."
Neeraj also touched upon a sensitive topic of over-expectation from him or any other athlete. " Yehi thodi dikkat hai apne yahaan pe. Gold hi chahiye sabko (That's (tall expectations) a little too much as everyone here wants gold)," he said.
"There is a lot of competition in athletics. It's not easy to win. When I won a silver at the Worlds people started saying, why not gold? People should understand it's not easy to win medals at high-level international competitions. With better performance among Indian athletes, expectations to have increased. But we need to support our athletes, no matter what the colour the medal is."
Neeraj is not perturbed by the fact that he could not breach the 90-metre mark. For him securing medals was a priority. "It is just a magical mark," he said. "I am not at all disappointed that I could not breach it. If you throw 90m and don't win medals that also is a problem."
Neeraj also said that he would love to see more Indians at such events. He has requested the Athletics Federation of India to help Indian athletes compete abroad in good international events.
"I would request the federation to send more and more athletes abroad to quality competitions so that they too can improve and one day I can compete alongside my teammates."