It is not easy being Neeraj Chopra. Even in the presence of some of the biggest names in world athletics, the spotlight remains firmly on him every time he gets ready to compete. It was no different on the eve of the Doha Diamond League on Thursday as Chopra declared he was ready and raring to start his Olympic title defence at the season-opener here.
Flanked by reigning Olympic champions Steven Gardiner (400m), Miltiadis Tentoglou (long jump) and pole vault world champion Nina Kennedy, it was a largely Neeraj Chopra show and the 27-year old admitted, for perhaps the first time, that the Olympic or World Championships arena does matter.
“You don’t feel it at that moment but you realise it later, when you leave the place, that it was a different feeling. In my mind and in my performances, the aim is to push myself to the limit every time. But Olympics is very rare,” he admitted in an exclusive interaction with Sportstar, reflecting on why records are often made or broken elsewhere.
“There are five Diamond League meets in a year, that’s 20 chances to set a record or get a new mark. In four years there is only one Olympics. That in itself is a pressure thing. You have to adjust and manage your body, mind, and everything to be working together perfectly at that level at that particular time to get a good result,” he said.
“This is why I think even historically, many legendary athletes falter. If you see Jan Zelezny or Thomas Rohler, who otherwise have great performances but could not do it in the Olympics. I also felt it in Tokyo, the pressure of the moment and the arena, you know in your mind where you are standing and competing. It is not easy, but it’s not impossible either,” he insisted.
The 90m question did pop up, yet again, and Chopra deflected it in style, yet again, while throwing down the gauntlet for his competitors.
“Preparations have been good, I had a good session in the morning also and I am ready for tomorrow. I have been stuck between 88-90m and I really want to break this barrier. But my focus is to stay healthy and be consistent. This is one of my strong points, one of my greatest weapons. I know I will throw 90, but consistency is more important,” he declared.
And his secret to keeping that weapon deadly lies in his training. While his social media videos and reels only exhibit the physical workout Chopra puts in his training sessions, the real deal is in what isn’t seen.
“The most important thing is to be very clear of your target in your mind during training. I am always aware that I have won the Olympics or World Championships, I know that my introduction at every competition, till Paris at least, will be as the current World and Olympic champion. There is the added responsibility of handling it the right way. For others, it is a motivation to reach there; for me, it is a responsibility to handle it carefully,” Chopra explained.
“Even as a kid, when I was not into sports, I had the mindset of doing any work given to me properly and completely – even if it was something as mundane as feeding buffaloes. It’s the same with training – my mindset is very good at that time, I am in my zone. All the confidence, handling of pressure etc comes from good training,” he revealed.
One of the reasons for Chopra’s popularity is his ability to respect everyone who walks up to him – from journalists wanting an exclusive chat to fans seeking a selfie or influencers hoping for viral content. That ability is also what makes him special and one of the more popular guys on the circuit – Tentoglou made it a point to mention how happy he would be if Chopra crossed the 90m mark before talking about his own targets. Good boys, it seems, do finish first.
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