2024-08-18 02:49:15
New Delhi: After narrowly missing his target of 90m at the Paris Games, two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra said he has now left it to God. Neeraj won the silver medal at the Paris Olympics with a throw of 89.45m. This was his only valid attempt out of his 6 attempts at the Paris Olympics. Winning medals at two consecutive Olympics is a great achievement for an Indian athlete. But Neeraj missed out on winning two consecutive gold medals. His attempt was well short of Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem’s Olympic record effort of 92.97m. Nadeem became the first player to win a gold medal for Pakistan in an individual sport during this period.What did Neeraj say on the target of 90 meters?
When asked about his target of 90 meters in the future, Neeraj said, ‘Now it seems that such a target has to be left to ‘God’. He said in an online press conference organized by JSW, ‘I just want to prepare well and see where the javelin goes. 90 meters has already been talked about, now I think let it be. In Paris I thought it would happen and it could have happened.’ He said, ‘Now I will give my 100 percent in the next two or three competitions and see what happens. During this time I will work on improving my shortcomings.’
Neeraj Chopra will be seen in action in Diamond League
Neeraj has been suffering from a back injury for a long time. But he will continue his game and participate in the Diamond League meet. He will compete in the Diamond League on August 22 and then consult doctors after participating in the Diamond League Final on September 13-14 in Brussels. After a few days of busyness after the Olympic final on August 8, Neeraj has started practice in Switzerland and is determined to end the season on a great note despite the injury. He said that he needs to make some technical changes in his game.
My body was not cooperating…
This 26-year-old player said, ‘When I run with the javelin, there is a lot of pressure on the waist when I take a cross step. But right now I am not able to change my technique. Apart from this, the line of my javelin was also not right.’ He said, ‘In Paris, the arc speed was good but the line was not getting right, if it was straight then I could have gone two to three meters away from it. I did not even think once that I could not do better than Arshad’s throw. My mind was ready but the body was not cooperating.’
Chopra needs to be in the top six of the Diamond League meet series to qualify for the Diamond League final in Brussels. He said, ‘I came to Switzerland for training before the Diamond League. Luckily my injury did not worsen as I took extra care of it.
I am thinking of continuing my session like other athletes. There is a month left for the end. I will try to meet the doctors in the meantime.
What does India need to do to become a sports power?
India finished a poor 71st in the Paris medal tally with five bronze and Neeraj’s silver. Asked what India needs to do to become a sporting power, Neeraj said, “There are more people scouting talent abroad. For example I learnt javelin throw, I didn’t know how, I liked it so I took it up. But if we have talent spotters, we can do better.”
He said, ‘Also, we cannot focus on just one sport. We need to be good in all sports. I think the countries that are at the top of the medal table (China, USA, Japan) are all powerful countries in different fields.’ He said, ‘Hopefully we will do well in the next Olympics. We have to work towards qualifying for the FIFA World Cup. We are already doing well in cricket. There is no dearth of talent in our country, we also need more coaches.’