Neeraj Chopra wins Kourtane meet, in injury scare

Neeraj Chopra won in his second competition, within a week of his excellent start to the season following a 10-month break after a historic Olympic gold in Tokyo. But India’s bright medal prospect at next month’s world athletics championships in the US gave his fans a mighty injury scare at the Kuortane meet in Finland on Saturday.

The 24-year-old nailed victory in the nine-man javelin competition with his first attempt of 86.69m. He fouled his next attempt and then an all-out effort in the third try on a rain-swept runway saw Chopra slip while executing his tumbling follow through.

It was a foul as he ended awkwardly on his side with his feet crossing the line, but there was injury concern as he walked away with lips pursed. The Athletics Federation of India allayed fears by tweeting that the star athlete was fine: “News from Kuortane: All well with @Neeraj_chopra1 after that bad slip on his third attempt. Nothing to worry. Well done #NeerajChopra, congrats for one more top class performance.”

Anticipation built as Chopra took his time before returning to action as Olympic champion, but underlined his form at Tuesday’s Paavo Nurmi Games, named after the Finnish distance running legend, with a national record 89.30m.

On Saturday, the 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago was his nearest rival, with a starting effort of 86.64m. Grenada’s world champion Anderson Peters managed a best of only 84.75m, in his opening throw, to finish third. Peters threw a world-leading 93.07m at last month’s Diamond League in Doha.

Chopra has set his sights on breaching the 90m mark this season, but he once again showed his ability to excel in competitions regardless of the conditions. If it was a wet Saturday, he had bettered his national mark in Turku in sunshine. Chopra has been training at the Kuortane Olympic Training Centre since the last week of May.

Injury had been the dominant theme of Chopra’s build-up to the Tokyo Olympics after undergoing elbow surgery. It had left him with few meets to warm-up for the big event, but he made light of it by clinching gold in Japan.

India’s second entry, para thrower Sandeep Chaudhary, also training at Kuorane, had a best of 60.35m. He touched 60.16 in his second attempt.

Chopra is next scheduled to compete in the Diamond League meet in Stockholm on June 30. The world championships in Eugene, Oregon (July 15-24) will be followed by the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (July 28-Aug 8), where he is defending champion.

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