Having won a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj Chopra got candid with the press after winning the recent title and openly accepted that he is not done yet, and these medals are not the end for him and he strives to achieve more for his country.

“There is a saying that throwers have no finish line. The best thing is that we have our javelin. We can always push ourselves. I may have won a lot of medals but the motivation is to throw farther and farther. By winning these medals, I should not think that I have achieved everything. I will work harder, push myself harder to win more medals and bring more laurels for my country. I am hungry for more,” said Neeraj Chopra.

Neeraj Chopra on winning and striving to achieve more

Defending Champion Neeraj Chopra qualifies for Olympics 2024, Paris

Neeraj Chopra also discussed how he has consistently wanted to achieve the 90 m mark but has been just close to it and would like to achieve it soon while being consistent with his stellar performances.

“I have been feeling very good for the last two years, and this year I thought I would throw 90m. Even today, after my second throw (for 88.17m), I felt I could breach the 90m today. But when I suffered a groin injury earlier in the season, it created problems. I had thrown very close to 90m last year. It will come someday, but don’t know when. I won’t be taking pressure thinking about that”.

“What is more important is the medal. I give more importance to consistency, and that gives confidence in big events. When I reach 90m, I will again try and maintain consistency. I have been working hard and waiting for it to come,” he said.

“The good thing about the final was that not only did I win, but there were two other Indians who did well. I am really happy for Kishore Jena, who threw his personal best, and even DP Manu threw exceptionally. It is a great achievement for India that both finished in the top six. What was incredible was that in such a big competition they didn’t show any nerves and gave their best. It gives us hope that we will do well at next year’s Olympics,” he added.

The qualifying mark for the javelin throw for Olympic 2024 is 85.05m. Neeraj Chopra’s qualification round lasted only a few minutes as he qualified in the first round itself.
Neeraj Chopra threw the Javelin for 88.77 metres in his first throw to qualify for the final of the World Athletics Championships 2023. Chopra’s 88.77m is regarded as the best throughout the season.

Neeraj Chopra on Crossing the 90m Mark and Olympics 2024

“Definitely, I am close. I just need one perfect day with favourable weather conditions and I am confident I will be able to achieve the throw,” said Neeraj Chopra.
“However, when I participate in competitions that occur once every two to four years (like the World Championships and the Olympics), there is undoubtedly a sense of responsibility. But, I always give my hundred per cent and perform with complete focus. Initially, there were other factors that used to overwhelm me but gradually I have gotten used to it.”
“At the beginning of the year, I had prepared quite well, but then I got injured which led me to skip a few competitions. After that, I returned and participated in the Lausanne Diamond League, where my performance was good.

Neeraj Chopra Wins The Sixth Leg of Diamond League 2023, To Seal Two Back-to-Back Title Victories
Since then, everything has gotten better, and I am happy with my performance and training. For me, the most important thing is to be mentally prepared for the challenge knowing that the World Championships are approaching, and I want to perform well there. I am not carrying a specific throwing distance or medal target in my mind, but it is important that when I compete there – I do not want to have any fear of injury or anything else on my mind”, added Neeraj Chopra.

“The Olympics are still almost a year away, and currently, the focus is on the World Championships, followed by the Diamond League Final and then the Asian Games. After that, there’s a season break when I will have time and will undergo about five to six months of intensive training before getting back into competitions. Planning for it will involve discussions with the team to strategize and introduce new aspects to my game. All will be revealed soon. But right now, my immediate focus is on the competitions happening this year,” concluded Neeraj Chopra.

Previously, Neeraj Chopra sealed an easy victory in the last leg of the diamond league as he registered his first-ever win in the tournament in Doha with his personal best figures of 89.4 meters in August and later went on to win the final game on the big stage of Diamond League 2023 in September.

The sixth leg of the Wanda Diamond League was conducted on 30 June 2023 in Athletissima, Lausanne, Switzerland. The one-day mini-tournament was broadcasted live on Sports18 and the Jio cinema network and received broad appreciation from fans as they saw their favourite player winning.

Neeraj Chopra’s Javelin throw of 87.66 Meters Lands him the title win

In the sixth round of the men’s javelin throw game in diamond league 2023, Neeraj Chopra began the first round with a foul, followed by throws of 83.52m and 85.04m. Neeraj again registered a foul in the fourth round, but fortunately, his throw of 87.66m landed him the winner spot, which was followed by his throw of 84.15m in the sixth and final round.

Julian Weber stood in second place with a throw of 87.03m, and Jakub Vedlejch of the Czech Republic took the third position with a throw of 86.13m.

The sixth leg of the Wanda Diamond League is set to commence on 30 June 2023 in Athletissima, Lausanne, Switzerland. The one-day mini-tournament will be broadcast live on Sports18 and the Jio cinema network.

Neeraj Chopra’s throw in Doha lands him Number 1 Spot

Having won the previous season of the Diamond League in Doha, Neeraj Chopra is currently leading the standings with eight points after a throw of 88.76 meters in Doha and is followed by Jakub Vedlejch of the Czech Republic with seven points and Anderson Peters of Grenada with six points.

Neeraj Chopra is said to dominate the sixth leg of the Diamond League as well. After the conclusion of the one-day mini tournament in Lausanne, Switzerland, Neeraj Chopra is likely to participate in the Monaco and Zürich legs on 21 July and 31 August respectively, before taking an active part in the finals of the Diamond League 2023 in Eugene, USA from 16 to 17 September.

Neeraj Chopra will be accompanied by fellow Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, whose previous participation was witnessed in Paris, wherein he stood third in the tournament with a long jump of 8.09 meters. Recently Murali jumped 8.41 m in the Inter-State Athletics Championship to qualify for the World Championship.

Neeraj Chopra will enter the tournament after suffering from a recent muscle strain during the practice and training session. The injury caused him to miss out on the FBK Games in the Netherlands, which were to be held on 4 June and the Paavo Nurmi games in Finland.

Neeraj, who recently became the 2^nd Indian followed by Anju Bobby George to triumph an Athletics World Championship medal with a silver medal finish had suspected of groin pain and stiffness following his event at the Worlds.

Rajeev Mehta, secretary general, IOA, stated, “Team India javelin thrower Mr. Neeraj Chopra had called me earlier today from the US to convey his inability to take part in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games owing to fitness concerns. Following his participation in the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Mr. Chopra had an MRI scan done on Monday and, based on it, he has been advised a month’s rest by his medical team.”

Neeraj had triumphed the gold medal in men’s javelin at the last edition of the CWG in the Gold Coast, Australia in 2018.

Following his silver medal-assuring 88.13m throw in the 4^th attempt, Chopra had felt some uneasiness in his right thigh and his worst fears have come true.

“I thought even the fourth throw could have gone farther. After that, I felt something on my thigh and could not do my best in next two. I had strapping (on thigh).”

“I will know the status tomorrow (Monday) morning because my body is still warm after the event. I hope there should not be any issue for the upcoming events, Commonwealth Games,” Chopra stated after his event.

Athletics Federation of India (AFI) President Adille Sumariwalla stated they are in touch with Chopra to aid his recovery.

“Neeraj has said that since he is not 100 per cent fit to compete at the Commonwealth Games, he would not be the flag bearer of the Indian contingent at the athletes’ parade in the opening ceremony,” Sumariwalla stated.

“Neeraj appeared to be struggling on Sunday during the finals at the World Championships. We are in constant touch with him to assist his recovery,” Sumariwalla added.

Chopra was anticipated to be India’s flag bearer at the Games, beginning on Thursday.

India team’s chef de mission Rajesh Bhandari stated, “We have a meeting later in the day to decide the new flag-bearer.”

Neeraj Chopra was out of the medal race till the 3^rd attempt in the men’s javelin final at the World Athletics Championships at Oregon.

However, the Olympic champion and million other Indians knew the show was not over.

Neeraj Chopra managed to put an 88.13m throw that straightaway put him in the second spot only behind Anderson Peters.

The Tokyo Olympics Gold medal-winner tried his best but flunked to beat Peters, who surpassed the 90m-mark astonishing 3 times in the final – for gold in his final 2 attempts however ended with India’s first-ever silver medal in World Championships.

Neeraj’s 88.13m throw was a whisker short of his 88.39m throw that triumphed him gold last year in the Olympics. Nevertheless, it was enough to give him his first World Championship medal and India’s second overall.

Chopra commenced with a foul throw and had 82.39m and 86.37m to be at 4^th following 3 rounds. He got his flow back with a massive fourth-round throw of 88.13m, his 4^th career-best effort.

Defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada triumphed gold with a best throw of 90.54m whilst Olympic silver winner Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic took the bronze with 88.09m.

The other Indian, Rohit Yadav concluded at 10^th with a best throw of 78.72m. Rohit had finished 11^th overall in the qualification round with a best throw of 80.42m.

Chopra, the reigning Olympic champion, commenced the men’s javelin throw Group A qualification round with a colossal 88.39m to qualify for the final of his very first effort. This is Chopra’s third-best throw of all time.

“It was a good start. I am also happy for Jakub [Vadlejch]. I hope my friends can also make it today. I’ll give my 100% in the final. We’ll see,” Chopra said.

“Every day is different. I’ll just give my best. We don’t know who can throw far on any given day. There are so many throwers in good shape now. Five-six throwers have thrown PBs this year. They are all in excellent shape. There is a little bit of zigzag in my run-up. I shook a little bit, but it was a good throw,” Chopra added notifying World Athletics.

Chopra, Peters, Weber and Vadlejch were the only throwers to book automatic qualification for the final round.

This is the first time Chopra has made the World Championship final. He flunked to get past the qualification round in 2017 and omitted the 2019 version in Doha as he was recovering from an elbow surgery.

Chopra, has enjoyed a superb run of form since his comeback to competition. He began his season with a marvellous 89.30m at the Paavo Nurmi Games on 14^th of June, followed it up with a 86.89m between the slippery conditions at the Kuortane Games on 18^th of June and followed it up with a huge personal best of 89.94m at the Stockholm Diamond League event 12 days later.

Chopra has been progressing closer to the coveted 90m mark as 2 of his main competitors – Peters (93.07m) and Vadlejch (90.88m) – have already surpassed the mark this year.

Chopra will return for the men’s javelin final on Sunday at 7:05 AM IST.

Chopra, 24, opening throw of 86.69m came out to be the winning throw.

Chopra’s second and third efforts were fouls and he made only 3 throws. That meant Chopra had a single legal throw and he triumphed the competition with it.

His throw was not as enormous as the 89.30m effort whilst finishing second in the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, in a magnificent field however the win will for sure boost his confidence before the Stockholm Diamond League on 30^th of June.

Reigning Asian and world para javelin champion Sandeep Chaudhary, who was also practicing at the Kuortane Olympic Training Centre apace with Chopra, also participated in the competition and concluded 8^th with a best throw of 60.35m.

Chopra’s 89.30m attempt in Turku stands at 5^th best of the season.

Chopra had made a superb return to tournament following his historic gold in the Tokyo Olympics with a stunning throw of 89.30m smashing his own national record.

Chopra’s first competitive event after just over 10 months was nothing short of exceptional as he nearly touched the crave 90m mark, which is considered the gold standard in the world of javelin throw.

Chopra’s earlier national record was 88.07m which he had marked in Patiala in March last year. He had triumphed the Tokyo Olympics gold with a throw of 87.58m on August 7, 2021.