Neeraj Chopra claims the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday was the first time he had three opening throws and had only a throw close to 80m mark (80.79m) to show for it. The newly-crowned world champion’s second and third throws were called fouls. He then had to push himself to make two 85-plus throws and finished narrowly behind Jakub Vadlejch in second place.
The Diamond League event came just four days – the shortest duration between competitions for Chopra this season – after the World Athletics Championships final in Budapest where he had won gold after six throws. After a day’s rest, Chopra travelled to Zurich and got an evening’s training under his belt before lining up on the runway at Letzigrund.
While Chopra says a two-week break would have been ideal between competitions, he has no big complaints. “My body is hurting because of all the competition. It’s okay. It’s the life of an athlete. What can you do about it?’ he smiles.
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“You can see this as three competitions in a week. You need to prepare for the qualification round (World Championships) as well. Yeah, it was just one throw in the end [in qualification] but it was the same preparation. Then there was the final, where I had to give my 100 percent. There was travel from Budapest. Everyone was tired,” says Chopra during a media interaction.
Chopra still has two more events to look forward to this year: the Diamond League final later this month in Eugene and the Asian Games next month in Hangzhou. While Chopra is motivated to push himself and take part in both championships, there is a hint of caution in wanting to finish the season injury-free. The 25-year-old admits there is ‘not enough time’ between the two competitions but will make arrangements to be ‘mentally prepared’ to compete in them.
“Yes, I will play in Asian Games. Before that, there is the Eugene Diamond League final. It’s on September 16 and there is not enough time for that too. There will be a lot of travel. I have to travel to the US and come back. There is a matter of time difference as well. I want to play both competitions and do well and finish my season without injury so that I can begin my preparations in time for the next season,” says Chopra.
Next season is the Olympic year and preparation for the title defence will be paramount on his mind. Chopra, by his own admission, says he has struggled with injuries. He has had elbow issues since 2018 and had undergone surgery for it in 2019, to get himself fit for the Tokyo Olympics. Last year, he pulled out of the Commonwealth Games due to a groin issue, which still continues to trouble him. In June this year, he skipped the FBK Games citing muscle strain.
“My main focus [in Zurich], because I had injury issues in the past, was to stay healthy and enjoy the competition. When I am representing my country in the Olympics and World Championships, I need to give more than 100 per cent. But it was not the same here. I could take things a little easy here. I had qualified for the finals of the Diamond League and I didn’t have to go all out. I didn’t push myself as I normally do. My main focus was to stay healthy,” Chopra outlined.
While last year, Chopra said he knew only ‘one gear’ when he entered competitions, this time around, he has learned to understand his body better. He knows when to take it down a notch or not go ‘ tod fod ke’ as he likes to put it . He now admits he can’t give his typical 100 percent in all events.
“My first three throws weren’t great. There was some groin trouble and it was there in my mind, and I wasn’t able to give my best in the first three throws,” Chopra explains. “Then I pushed myself in the next three throws. The fifth throw was good but I wasn’t able to make the javelin fly too well. I had two 85m throws so I was happy. I didn’t push myself a lot also, so to get the throws I did makes me happy.”
He is also learning by watching his peers. “I am learning from other athletes as well like Jakub and Julian Weber because they weren’t pushing themselves as well. It’s difficult to give 100 percent everywhere. Yesterday was about not winning medals, but just competing, which was good,” says Neeraj.
With another 15 days left for the Diamond League final, Chopra wants to focus on rest and recovery before resuming training.
“It’s important to understand the body. There are many times when your body is not ready and if you mentally push yourself too much, then you will get in trouble, which will then be a problem for you in future competitions. You need to understand which competitions are important and where you need to give more. Where you need to go technical and where you need to be cautious. That was my main focus here. I will train for 12 days here after rest and recovery because I had some health issues in Budapest. I will train well for the final of the Diamond League,” he says.
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Invariably, like any press conferences he has taken part in the last 18 months, Chopra was posed with questions about the 90m mark, too. He was both pleased and not so pleased with his consistency in throws but felt that there was always room for improvement.
“Distance matters when the medal looks like it won’t come. But when you achieve the distance and also can get gold, then gold matters more [to me]. Everything was good for me this time [season] but injury stopped the momentum in May and I had to skip a few competitions. I had to do my rehab and return in Lausanne and then took part in the Worlds.
“If you look at things from a ‘distance’ point of view, I am not very happy, because I did 89m three times in as many competitions last year. This time, I am averaging 88m this time but the results are good, especially with the gold at the World Championships. Where distance doesn’t matter, titles matter more. From my point of view, I am happy with medals and can never be satisfied with the distance,” he says.
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