As the Indian contingent prepares for the Commonwealth Games 2022 hosted in Birmingham, the Indian athletes will be eyeing gold in the upcoming multi-national event. The entire country along with the Indian team have their hopes highly pinned on javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra who took the entire world by storm when he clinched the gold medal in Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra expects to breach the coveted 90m mark this year but doesn't want to think about "distance" going into the World Athletics Championships, currently underway in Eugene, USA. Chopra had set a new national record of 89.94m, just 6cm shy of the 90m mark, the gold standard in the world of javelin throw, at the prestigious Diamond League in Stockholm last month en route to a silver medal.
The 24-year-old javelin thrower finished second, behind Grenada's Anderson Peters, who recorded a best throw of 90.31m.
"I was 6cm short of the 90m mark, I was pretty close. I hope to cross 90m this year. But I never think or focus on distance competing. I just try to give my 100 percent", said Chopra in a virtual interaction from Eugene after he was roped in by fitness wear giant Under Armour.
The javelin thrower will have to go through a stern test when he takes the field for the qualifiers on July 21. Along with Chopra, Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, Finland's Oliver Helander and the German duo of Julian Weber and Johannes Vetter will be in action.
"It is the biggest competition of this year for me. I want to perform without any pressure. It is the biggest stage, the competition will be very tough. There are 5-6 throwers who are performing consistently so the level is similar this year, but every day, every competition is different. My focus is just on one thing, to throw as big as possible", said Chopra.
(Inputs from PTI)
