India at 2020 Tokyo Olympics Day 12: Full schedule of events for August 4
Other Sports | August 03, 2021 23:53 ISTNeeraj Chopra, Lovlina Borgohain, India women's hockey team headline India's action on Day 12 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Neeraj Chopra, Lovlina Borgohain, India women's hockey team headline India's action on Day 12 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Both the elite Indian javelin throwers will aim for a spot in the 12-man javelin throw final at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday morning.
Out of the 26-member Olympic team, only Chopra was able to train and compete in Europe in early June before arriving in Tokyo on Tuesday.
A total of 26 athletes will represent India in the track and field competition at the Olympics but the medal hopes rest on star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra.
Chopra, India's main medal hope in athletics, has recently recovered from an ankle injury and is preparing for Tokyo Olympics in Sweden.
Touted as one of India's strongest bets for a medal in Tokyo, Chopra said his build-up to the Games has been quite challenging given the lack of competitive exposure.
Dutee (women's 100m and 200m), MP Jabir (men's 400m hurdles), Gurpreet Singh (men's 50km race walk) and Annu Rani (women's javelin throw) have been assured of entries on the strength of their rankings.
Chopra has already been conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2018 after winning a gold in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
It is learnt that Chopra's pull-out was a precautionary measure to give his body enough time to rest after a lot of travel.
Chopra began with 83.21m and then sent the iron spear to a distance of 86.79m in the his second attempt. All the remaining four throws were fouls.
The Kuortane Games will be 23-year-old Chopra's third competition on the European circuit. He has won gold medals in Lisbon on June 10 and in Karlstad on June 22.
Chopra began with a throw of 79.07m before hurling the iron spear to 80.96m. His next three attempts were fouls before coming up with a final throw of 77.48m in a mediocre field.
The Mission Olympic Cell (MOC), a review committee of SAI, on Friday allowed the duo to continue training overseas till the Tokyo Games by sanctioning their respective proposals.
After the Karlstad Grand Prix competition, 23-year-old Chopra will compete at the Kuortane Games in Finland on June 26, followed by another competition in Lausanne on June 29.
Chopra's opening throw in Lisbon on Thursday was 80.71m while his sixth and last throw was 83.18m. Chopra generally averages around 85 metres with his throws.
The 23-year-old made a promising start to his Olympic preparations with a decent 83.18m which he achieved in his sixth and final throw in the Lisbon event on Thursday.
After beginning with 80.71m, Chopra sent the spear to 83.18m in his sixth and final throw to win the javelin event at the Meeting Cidade de Lisboa (Meeting, City of Lisbon).
The 2018 Jakarta Asian Games champion in javelin throw was last seen in action in January last year, at the South African domestic meet in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
The CEO of JSW Sports, Chopra's sponsors, Parth Jindal took to Twitter to reveal that the reigning Asian and Commonwealth Games champion has reached Portugal.
The 23-year-old Indian, who hasn't participated in any event since qualifying for the Olympics in March last year, was originally set to leave for France on Monday.
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