Neeraj Chopra begins defence of Olympic gold from Doha meet

DHNS: The year 2024 will be unlike any other for star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra. It is the year when he defends his Olympic gold medal that the 26-year-old won in Tokyo three years ago. 

In this pursuit, the reigning world champion will begin his season at the Doha Diamond League scheduled to be held on May 10. With less than a month left for the athlete’s first competition after an off-season of around seven months, Neeraj is gearing up to set the field on fire, once again. 

“Yes, we throwers in athletics have a long off-season. It does give us a lot of time to prepare better and in a structured manner,” said Neeraj during an online interaction, organised by JSW, from Turkey where he is currently training. 

Apart from coach Klaus Bartonietz and physio Ishaan Marwah, Neeraj added strength and conditioning coach Spencer Mackay to his team that shifted base from South Africa’s Potchefstroom to Antalya (Turkey) in early March. 

“The first 2-3 months were mostly dedicated to strength training and fitness more than javelin practice. Specific throw-based workouts started recently and we are focused on improving more than making any big change in the technique. Everything is going as planned so far,” he said. 

Though injuries troubled Neeraj at the beginning of last season, he bounced back to end 2023 ranked as the World No. 1 javelin thrower after topping the podium at the Lausanne Diamond League. He subsequently became the first Indian to win gold at the World Athletics Championships in Hungary with a throw of 88.17m followed by the Asian Games gold in Hangzhou with an effort of 88.88m. 

This year, Neeraj hopes, will be another opportunity to strive for excellence. Known for consistency, Neeraj felt that training continuously with a good balance of everything from diet, travel, rest days is the key. “First, the training must be consistent. That leads to being consistent with the performance. Somehow I’m stuck at the 88-89m mark. Now the aim is to improve on the distance and maintain it.”

Neeraj will be joined by fellow countryman Kishore Jena in Doha, making it the first time with two Indians in javelin throw at a Diamond League. After the duo finished one-two at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last October, expectations of them repeating the feat in future events has only soared. And Neeraj has nothing but praise for his fellow competitor.

“More than one Indian on the podium gives me another level of satisfaction. He (Jena) is a hard worker and I’m sure he and his team are doing everything to keep improving.”  

As of now, Neeraj is set to compete at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland on June 18 before deciding on one or two more events ahead of the Paris Games. The Indian will be up against 19-year-old sensation Max Dehning of Germany, the latest entrant in the 90m-club, in Turku.

“This will be the first time we will be competing against each other. He (Dehning) skipped the 80 (metres) completely. From 70m, he came up with a throw of 90m. Such a thing has happened for the first time and I will enjoy his challenge along with everybody else who will be in the best shape mentally and physically knowing it is the Olympic year,” said Neeraj. 

With the World Athletics announcing a cash reward of $ 50,000 to all gold medallists in the discipline at the Paris Olympics, Neeraj, apart from welcoming the move, hoped that the world body would extend such monetary incentives to other global events in the coming years.

Neeraj hopes to breach 90m-mark before Paris

‘When will you breach the 90m mark?’ is probably the most frequently-asked question to Olympic gold medal-winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra. Will Paris Olympics, then, be the stage for him to go for the big one?  “I will try. But hopefully I can make it happen even before Paris. I’m happy with the training and preparations. So let’s hope for the best.”  Neeraj, known for encouraging fellow Indian athletes, has his hopes pinned on Kishore Jena as well.  “Who knows he might touch 90m before me. Whoever does it for the country it will feel good. Let’s see what is in store,” he expressed.