CHENNAI: The first domestic throws and jumps nationals is underway at the Inspire Institute of Sport in Vijayanagar. Far away in Potchefstroom, South Africa, Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is quietly getting ready for the season. After weeks of intense training to get back into shape, Neeraj is now focussing on throwing. After throwing with medicine balls, he is training with lighter javelins to start with.
However, the 25-year-old is yet to go full-out throwing. Since the season is going to be longer than usual because of the Asian Games in September-October, Neeraj and his team will take some more time before getting into competition mode.
Neeraj during an interaction with The New Indian Express had said, "We will start with cardio and slowly increase intensity. And shed whatever additional weight that has been accumulated. Then we will concentrate on our core strengths and then our joints. We will work on our stamina and endurance. Then we will concentrate on strength and technique and start throwing with javelin and medicine balls."
Neeraj and his team (his coach Klaus Bartonietz and physio Ishaan Marwah) are in the final leg of their Potchefstroom camp before taking a very short hop to India. The national record holder is expected to be back in the country on March 23 and by April 1, he is expected to fly out to Antalya, Turkey. They are going to train at the same facility, Gloria Sports Arena, as last year. After spending about a couple of months in Antalya, they are expected to shift base to Europe like last year.
As far as his competitions are concerned, the team has not yet decided but felt it should be in June similar to what they did last year. If everything goes as per plan, Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland could be his first competition and he even can go to Kuortane. However, finalising the events will take a little more time. The idea is to save his best for the world championships in Budapest in August.
Their primary tournaments this year are the World Championships (Budapest, Hungary) and the Asian Games and, of course, getting ready for the Olympics next year. World championships silver medallist Neeraj is ranked No 2 in the world right now. According to the World Athletics ranking, he is behind world champion Anderson Peters of Granada. And of course, that magical 90-metre barrier too is in his mind. "This year I hope I can put this question to rest," he had said in January.