CHENNAI: It's been more than a month now since Neeraj Chopra started his training at Loughborough University. The season this year is long, and his training has begun keeping that in mind.
In his first press conference of the year, Neeraj spells out his plan for the year and his targets. Yes, that elusive 90m mark would be one, but as the Olympic javelin champion says, it will happen when it happens, but he hopes to put that question to rest this year.
For Neeraj, like during his interview with this newspaper earlier, the World Championships at Budapest in August will be his priority, and of course, the Asian Games later in the year. There is also the Diamond League in between. Neeraj and his team are yet to decide in which competition he would want to begin this season.
"This year, we have the World Championships once again, and later the Asian Games. Hopefully, everything goes well. And since the Asian Games is later in the year, around September-October, we will start the season accordingly," he said during the press conference on Friday. "The load is increasing as we progress. We are now working on our strength and endurance. We do some long-distance running and some gymnastics. We have started jumps and throwing medicine balls too. Now it's general training, and after some time, we will focus on specifics."
As for the year, Neeraj would want to do better in certain areas. The 25-year-old said that he would target to get his personal best this year too. "Last year, I have had my personal best, and this year too, I would like to do the same," he said. "And I hope to fulfil all your wishes of getting that 90m mark too this year." He said that even last year's preparation was great, and 90m seemed within reach. "At Stockholm, it was 89.64m, just six centimetres short. I was short of the line, and if I could have come closer to it, who knows, it could have been 90m."
Since Neeraj is prone to gain weight, this time, too, he said because of lack of training early on and some eating, his weight had increased a bit. "First two-three weeks, you need time to get your weight under check, and then we start our training."
Legendary sprinter Michael Johnson recently commented on Neeraj's amazing sprint skills. Neeraj revealed a bit more about the ritual that drew praise from the former world record holder. That routine that he posted was part of a warm-up. "We usually do it as a warm-up before training," he said. "We do some running and hurdles as part of the exercise. That helps to relax our muscles. As we approach competition, the pace increases. It was when I was in Gloria (Turkey) before going to Finland for competition. So we try to sprint fast, and speed too is integral."
Further commenting on this, Neeraj said since "such a legendary athlete had commented on my technique, I had to respond (when he said he would look into sprints calendar)." He, however, said that he could never be a sprinter. "Maybe he liked the technique, and that's how I trained. But yes, if I meet him somewhere, sometime I would show him my sprint skills as well. But for now, it's only javelin."
Right now, Neeraj is yet to start throwing the javelin. "We have started to throw medicine balls (around 8-10kg). To improve our throwing power and build strength, we do this. When we throw like javelin, we do that with a heavy ball (from 1-1.5 to 2kg). This helps to build strength in our shoulder, and elbow and helps in gaining throwing power. Now it's more indoor training. As we go outdoors, like when we shift to South Africa for training, the weather is good, and then we can start training with a javelin."
On handling pressure and anxiety, Neeraj said that he doesn't follow anything in particular. "When we practice, we try to do it very intensely and other things, we don't try to meddle with much. We work on our target. Sometimes the body also gets tired, even the mind, but even after that, we need to push ourselves. If we end our training perfectly, that feeling is completely different."
Though he is a very famous athlete now, when compared with Usain Bolt, Neeraj, in his inimitable style, tried to put it in perspective. "When you talk about his performance, Usain Bolt is at a different level. He has world records in 100m and 200m, and he has so many gold medals at the Olympics and world championships. He has retired from the sport now. My advantage is that I am from India, and we have a big population, and they are happy whenever I do well. Because of them, so much discussion happens around my performance. In this, they have a big role to play."
Neeraj also talked about his experience of watching the World Cup. "I was supporting the game and the players. Someone said that it was Lionel Messi's last World Cup, and from inside, I was thinking maybe he should get hold of the World Cup. He had a role to play in the team (Argentina) as well."
As the season begins, Neeraj is focused on the work at hand and is looking forward with the hope that he does better than last year.