Star India javelin thrower and Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra said that he has the belief that he will cross the 90 metre mark this season.
On April 16, Neeraj interacted with mediapersons and discussed his upcoming season, his ambitions for the 2024 Paris Olympics, training, and crossing the 90 metre mark among other topics.
“I am getting this question asked since 2018. I believe I can do this year because I was very close to the mark last season. I think the injury mid-season could be a reason why I did not cross the 90m mark. There is no overconfidence in me when I say that this season I have the belief that I will cross the 90m mark,” said Neeraj during his interaction with the media.
“I missed it by just 6 cm last time. But I am not irritated by the questions and the discussions on it. It sometimes bothers but what I focus on is giving my best on the match day. Sometimes, even 87 m can give you gold. But having said that, I am confident I will enter the 90m club this season,” added the Olympic gold medalist.
Despite all the success, Neeraj’s focus remains the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“I still need to do better. My first Olympics were great, but I do not take anything for granted. There will more expectations from me at Paris 2024. What is in my hands is to give it my 100 per cent and I will train harder than I did for Tokyo,” Neeraj said.
Javelin thrower and the reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra will begin his Diamond League title defence in the Doha meeting on May 5.
“Olympic javelin champion and world silver medallist Neeraj Chopra – the Indian national record holder with a best of 89.94m – will join World champion Anderson Peters (GRN) and Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch (CZE) in a much-anticipated javelin competition at the Doha Meeting on Friday 5 May,” a statement from Diamond League read.
Due to injury, Chopra missed the 2022 Doha Meeting. It was an event that presented spectators with a javelin masterclass as two national records were broken, including the fifth-longest throw in history by Grenada’s two-time world champion Peters (93.07m), a mark only just outside Thomas Rohler’s 93.90m impressive meeting record from 2017.
Also, 2022 was an amazing year for Neeraj, though he missed out on Commonwealth Games 2022 due to an injury.
In June, he made new national record and finished with a silver medal with a throw of 89.30 metres at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland, bettering his own previous National record of 88.07 meters which he had set in Patiala in March last year.
In June again, he gave another sterling performance as he clinched gold in the 2022 Kuortane Games in Finland. Neeraj threw 86.69 m to clinch the top prize in tricky and wet conditions.
At the World Athletics Championships in July, Neeraj Chopra made history by becoming only the second Indian and the first male track and field athlete to take home a medal. He finished second and won the silver medal, realising his aim of winning a World medal with a throw of 88.13 metres. Anju Bobby George won a bronze medal for India in the long jump competition before Neeraj.
In September, Chopra made history by becoming the first-ever Indian to win the prestigious Diamond League trophy, a top-tier athletics competition, achieving the best throw of 88.44 m to clinch one of the biggest wins of his career.
He now holds the male javelin record thanks to a throw in the Stockholm Diamond League that measured 89.94 metres, with which he broke his own record. He clinched a silver medal at the prestigious Diamond League meet in Stockholm and broke his own previous record.
