Neeraj eyes 90m in first Diamond League meet of the season
The Doha Diamond League meet last year saw two javelin throwers get past the 90m mark. Grenada’s two-time world champion Anderson Peters recorded the fifth-longest throw in history (93.07m) while Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Jakib Vadlejch had a personal best of 90.88m. This time India's Olympic Champion Neeraj Chopra will also be in the fray, hoping for a rub of the green in the desert city.
Chopra will begin a new season in the midst of a highly competitive field, including Peters and Vadlejch, at the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium. Last year, Chopra had a stellar season, winning silver at the world championships in addition to the Diamond League title. However, he had fallen agonisingly short of the 90m mark, throwing a distance of 89.94m at the Diamond League meet in Stockholm.
This year, Chopra wants to get the 90m barrier out of his way as quickly as possible.
"It is always good to have great competitors. This is my first competition of the season and I am hoping for a great contest tomorrow. The important thing is that Doha is famous for 90m throws, so really looking forward to a great result tomorrow," said Chopra during an official press meet.
The 25-year-old had pulled out of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games due to a groin injury that he had picked during the World Championships in Eugene. After that, he participated in two Diamond League meets and finished on top.
Chopra has been preparing abroad for a busy season that will include the Asian Games and World Championships. He trained in Loughborough University's high-performance centre in November-December and then had training stints in Potchefstroom, South Africa and Turkey this year, with coach Klaus Baronietz and physiotherapist Ishaan Marwah by his side.
Despite his packed schedule, Chopra has been keeping track of the performance of young throwers in India.
"We already have 6-7 throwers (who have thrown) above 80m, and 2-3 new throwers have gone beyond 80m this year, so javelin is really improving in India," said Chopra. "In Tokyo, we won the first gold in the Olympics in athletics. Our athletes performed very well both in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. There is a change in Indian sports after Tokyo and junior athletes are coming up in a big way. Hopefully, in the next Olympics, we will win more medals."
Asked about the reason for the improvement in India's throwers, he said: "In India, cricket is very popular and we have good fast bowlers. They have fast arms. In javelin also, you need very fast arms, so it's a natural talent in India."
So is Neeraj planning to join the Mumbai Indians after his javelin career? "The rule is that you have to throw from the shoulder. If they decide that I can throw the ball like a javelin then I can join cricket," he said with a laugh.
Eldhose to make DL debut
Neeraj will not be the only Indian in Doha. Commonwealth Games gold medallist triple jumper Eldhose Paul will be there too, competing in his first Diamond League meet.
Paul competed in two events this year and recorded the personal best of 16.61m at the Indian open Jumps meet. He is coming back from a heel injury and that has affected his preparation.
"I am looking to be more consistent with 17m jumps this year," said Paul, who won the CWG gold with a jump of 17.03m.
"The weather is a little bit humid but windy in the evening. The goal is to prepare towards bigger meets like World Championships and Asian Games," said Paul.
"It is a great feeling to have Neeraj and me competing in a major competition like the Diamond League. It's great for athletics in India."
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