India's javelin ace Neeraj Chopra revealed his future plan to join the elite 90m club after his historic success at the Asian Games 2023. Neeraj successfully defended his Gold at the Hangzhou Games while his compatriot Kishore Kumar Jena bagged Silver to display India's dominance in the men's javelin throw event.
Indian contingent enjoyed their best-ever performance in Asian Games history with a record 107 medals, including an unprecedented 28 Gold to achieve fourth place in the medal standings. Neeraj and Kishore Kumar were top of their game with season-best throws in Hangzhou and now the former targets to cross the 90-meter mark in the future.
Both Neeraj and Jena competed against each other during the men's final event with the former registering 88.88m throw. Kishore Kumar produced his career-best throw with an 87.54m mark and initially took the lead over Neeraj. However, Neeraj made a stunning comeback to slightly get ahead of Kishore Kumar after six attempts.
"In future I see two Indian javelin throwers joining the 90m club," Neeraj Chopra said during the event organised by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Wednesday. "It was a healthy rivalry between me and Jena during the medal round in the men’s javelin throw in Hangzhou."
Adille Sumariwalla, the president of the AFI, highlighted Indian javelin throwers' dominance in the Asian Games and added that it will be a big boost to the confidence going into the Paris Olympics 2024.
"I will say it was a bad miss in middle distance events and women’s 4x400m relay at the Asian Games. While Neeraj Chopra was crowned world champion, Jena and Manu DP were in the top six, which suggests the growing stature of Indian javelin throwers on the global stage. The outstanding performance in a packed 2023 season was a big boost to the confidence of the Indian athletes ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games," Adille Sumariwalla said.
