India’s Tokyo Olympics hero Neeraj Chopra will spearhead the Indian contingent at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene from July 15.
Neeraj finished second with a throw of 89.94m in the men’s javelin throw event at the recently concluded Stockholm Diamond League.
Neeraj, hoping to breach the 90m mark, said, “I’m taking confidence from the fact that I’ve got personal bests twice in the three competitions I’ve taken part in this season. I missed 90m also only by six cm.”
“I delayed my season and staggered the events keeping the Asian Games in mind. Given it was scheduled at the end of the year, it would have been a long season. Now that it has been postponed, WC, CWG and the Diamond League final are main.” he added.
The Covid protocols have become less stringent across sports, and Neeraj is excited about practising with fellow athletes. “We’re all together after a long time. I trained with Rohit Yadav and Annu Rani. I do my warmups with the jumpers. It’s nice to be together and train this way. Many other teams are here as well, so it’s a good atmosphere.”
“The consistency has improved for us all. We’ll know who comes out on top on that day. Expect the event to be interesting. It’s an individual sport, so we don’t follow what other athletes do. Everyone has a different process.” he said.
History beckons
If Neeraj wins gold, he will become the first male javelin thrower to follow Olympic success with World Championship gold since Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen feat in 2008-09.
Before that, world record holder Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic had achieved the milestone in 2000-01 and 1992-93.
Asked about his mindset, Chopra said, "I will go with the same mindset I had in Tokyo. I will give my best. I am not putting pressure on myself.
"That said, I am not taking the qualification round lightly. I have learnt that from London in 2017. At that time, I did not have much international experience. I thought I would do 83m (the qualification mark in 2017) but failed to do it."
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