Come Friday (July 15), all eyes will be on India's best medal hopeful, Neeraj Chopra, at the World Athletics Championships, to be held in Eugene, Oregon. The Tokyo Olympic gold medallist shoulders the hops of a billion people as he aims to win a medal at the event—something which eluded him so far. Anju Bobby George still remains the first and only Indian to ever win a medal at the World Athletics Championships. But then, Chopra is known to rewrite history in Indian athletics, and thus the expectations of a medal from here too remain high and realistic.
The much-talked about 90m mark eluded him by just 6cm in the recently concluded Diamond League competition in Stockholm. The 24-year-old won a silver medal there with a throw of 89.94m, bettering his own national record of 89.30m . Rather than being disappointed, Chopra was satisfied overall with his performance in the lead up to the more important world championships. He has been gradually improving the distance of his throws and the 90m mark seems an inevitability.
Chopra would be up against a very strong field which includes world champion and season leader Anderson Peters of Grenada, who won the competition with a best throw of 90.31m. Currently training at Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Centre, in California, Chopra expressed satisfaction with his preparation and build up going into the competition. Excerpts from an interaction:
How have your preparation for world championships and CWG been since both are too close to each other?
The preparations are going on well. I have competed in three competitions so far and have had good throws in all. In two of them, I gave my personal best. I am leaving for Eugene, Oregon tomorrow from our base here in Chula Vista.
How much confidence are you taking from your recent performances into the World Athletic Championships?
It has been very good. I got a lot of confidence from these performances – it's not about best throws, but about consistency. It has been good this time. I feel I can do even better now. I am very close to throwing 90m.
You haven't competed in too many competitions before Tokyo Olympics 2021 and now before the World Athletic Championships. Any particular reason for doing so?
The reason why I took part in few competitions was that at this time in June we had only these competitions scheduled. Earlier, we had plans to participate in Doha Diamond League and possibly Ostrava Golden Spike 2022, but we started a bit late, keeping in mind Asian Games which were scheduled for end of September 2022. Asian Games got postponed, so we ended up competing in these events. There was no plan to compete in few events as such.
What kind of preparations have you done after reaching Chula Vista base? Are you ready for the championships?
I haven't changed my training much, but the coach tells us what percentage we have to operate at and look at our throws, sprinting and jump etc. Nothing new is added so close to the competition.
You have spent some time at Chula Vista even before Olympics. What works for you here?
The weather here is very good, the facility too is good. The food is very good too. The pre-World Athletics camp here is important to acclimatise ourselves to the time difference and weather here.
What mindset do you go in with at World Athletic Championships? This is one medal that you still have to win.
The same as in Tokyo; just go and play with an open mind, give my 100 per cent there. London 2017 was my first world championship event; at the qualification round I did not have so much knowledge, but (I) learnt a lesson from there—that one has to give his/her best even in qualification round. I haven't thought so much about distance etc, only focusing on my best.
How do you view your competitors? Anderson Peters has done very well on one hand throwing regularly over 90mp, but Johannes Vetter has pulled out due to injury. Overall, how do you view the competition in Javelin?
I feel its a very tough competition out there – there have been so many competitions where the first three positions have been over 90m. Anderson Peters, Julian Webber, and Hoffman have been performing consistently. It will be a good competition hopefully.
Do you discuss what the competitors are doing with your coach?
No; see, it's an individual competition, each javelin thrower has his own way of throwing. It is not a team event where we see someone's position and plan accordingly. One has to focus on improving one's own technique or angle to get an improved result.
How is the mood in the Indian camp at Chula Vista going into the championships?
It is very good. The entire Indian contingent is here. I trained with my teammates- one day with Rohit, with Annu too. We have been warming up and working out sometimes with jumpers or sprinters. It feels good.
You are an icon back India. More people are closely following your performances now. How do you cope with all this attention?
I feel if one is doing something or preparing for an event, if we do so by focusing totally on it, it becomes easy. After Olympics I had to attend functions etc. and could not train. I used worry about not being able to train. I learnt from that to focus on what one is doing at that moment. When in training, focus completely on that.
