Do it without worrying about pressure, Jackson’s advice to Neeraj Chopra

The two-time World champion said the javelin thrower will have pressure from media and his supporters when he sets out to defend his Olympic crown in Paris in 2024.

Jackson is the event ambassador of Sunday’s Tata Steel Kolkata 25K race. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Colin Jackson, a two-time World champion in 110m hurdles, said World and Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra would have to get the better of the pressure of expectations to defend his title in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Jackson said Chopra should only focus on his performance. “There will be a lot of media pressure on him, there’s no doubt. There will be a lot of pressure on him from all his supporters for him to come back and win that.

“But, nowadays there are so many good examples for him to look at who have defended their titles…the smartest move for him (is) to actually do (his job) and not worry about the pressure or everybody else’s expectations of him. He has got his own expectations. Deliver what he’s capable of delivering and he’ll be fine,” Jackson, who is the event ambassador of Sunday’s Tata Steel Kolkata 25K race, said here on Thursday.

The former World Record holder, who is now a coach, said Chopra’s special talent is evident. “There’s a sense of real focus and commitment to what he’s going to do. And it’s attention to detail. Sometimes when he throws a javelin, you see him throw himself on the floor and people are going, ‘That’s an untidy throw’. But the javelin’s already gone, he has already released it.

“So, what you’ve got to look at is the precision, what he has done to get the javelin in the right position to put his whole power through that single point and watch that flight go. Don’t worry what he does on the floor moments after (that). It’s how he actually releases that.”

The Welsh athlete acknowledged the Indian athletes’ recent progress, especially in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, and advised that they should not get intimidated by the environment of the Olympics.

About the competition in his own event, 110m hurdles, in the run-up to the Paris Olympics, Jackson said apart from the Jamaicans, the Americans and French athletes, up-and-coming ones, including Jason Joseph, would make it an exciting affair.

“It’s going to be the person, who holds his head together well, will take that title, not necessarily the fastest,” said the 56-year-old, whose World Record of 12.91s in the 1993 World championships in Stuttgart stood for more than a decade.