Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, said he could not push himself to his extreme limits. Chopra missed out on retaining his gold medal in the men’s javelin throw event at the recently concluded marquee event but bagged the silver with a best throw of 89.45m. Speaking at a virtual press briefing, Neeraj said mentally he was ready but physically he was weak. The 26-year-old admitted that his legwork during the final was not as it should have been.
Neeraj said, “I never thought I couldn’t do it… Arshad Nadeem’s previous best was 90.18m, which he threw at the Commonwealth Games, and my previous best was 89.94m… I couldn’t push myself to my limit. Mentally I was ready, but physically, I was retraining myself. My legwork on the runway was not as it should have been. My efforts were going in vain. My throw was good immediately after Nadeem’s throw, because I was extremely positive…”
Neeraj also revealed his next competition and said he will participate in the Lausanne Diamond League, which will begin on August 22.
He said, “…I have finally decided to participate in the Lausanne Diamond League which starts on August 22.”
Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan won the gold with a throw of 92.97m, setting a new Olympic record and beating Denmark’s Andreas Thorkildsen’s Beijing 2008 record. Anderson Peters of Grenada took the bronze with a throw of 88.54m.
Earlier, Chopra had thrown 89.34m in the Group B qualification round, which was his second-best all-time throw. Despite a competitive rivalry with Nadeem, where Chopra held a 9-0 lead in their head-to-head encounters, Nadeem’s throw of 90.18m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games surpassed Chopra’s top effort.
After failing to defend the gold medal, Neeraj expressed dissatisfaction over his performance and said that the last two-three years have not been good for him in terms of fitness.
“It was a good throw, but I am not happy with my performance today. My technique and runway were not that good. I was able to make only one throw and fouled the rest,” Neeraj said, as per Olympics.com.
Neeraj said, “For my second throw, I felt that I could also throw this far. But if your performance in javelin throw is not good then you cannot throw too far.”
India’s top javelin thrower, who is also the reigning Asian Games champion, said the injuries he suffered during his title defence in Paris made some difference and he needs to stay injury-free and work on his technique.
“The last two or three years have not been so good for me. I am always getting injured. I worked really hard but I have to work on my form (to stay injury-free) and technique,” the 26-year-old said.
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