Neeraj Chopra usually does not care about the distance whenever he climbs to the podium, but the boy from the Athletic India poster knows that he can have to throw beyond the 90 -meter brand if he is going to defend his world javelin title in Tokyo this month.
A trapeler hair chopra became the first Athletics athlete of India to win the Olympic gold in the Japanese capital four years ago, and since then has added a trophy of the Diamond League, the gold of the World Championship and a silver medal in the Paris Games of 2024.
In November last year, the 27 -year -old brought the three -time Olympic champion Jan Zelezny as his coach in an attempt to launch even more. Six months after the association, Chopra registered a better personal brand of 90.23M in Doha earlier this year.
But the Indian has left less than 90 m in his last five exits and threw a modest 85.01m in the final of the Diamond League in Zurich last week, ending a second distant behind the Julian Weber monster of 91.51m German Julian Weber.
While a series of 80 million high releases have kept it in the first two in each of its last 26 competitions, Chopra acknowledged that it would probably not be enough to leave Tokyo with another gold medal around his neck this month.
“This was not so bad. But we are approaching the world championship a lot, so I still need to launch a little more,” Chopra said after Zurich.
“There were some things that went well, but still, there were the things that were not so good.
“In this sport, we don’t know. It depends on the day. In Tokyo, everything will be different.”
Weber placed the glove with a couple of launches of more than 90 m in Zurich. Chopra and Luiz Mauricio da Silva of Brazil are the others who have violated that brand this season.
“Julian, he is a good friend of mine and I’m always happy when we do to him and we push each other,” Chopra said.
“In the main championships, gold is more important than distant pitches. So I will do everything possible to win the medal.”
