Neeraj Chopra will bring gold in Paris too, medalist spearhead roars before Olympics
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Before Chopra, Zelezny and Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway had won back-to-back Olympic and World Championship titles. Zelezny also idolises the Indian superstar, who has won Olympic gold in 1992, 1996 and 2000 and world championship titles in 1993, 1995 and 2001. Thorkildsson won gold medals at the 2008 Olympics and 2009 World Championships. Chopra, however, admitted that defending the gold medal at the Paris Olympics next year would be a big challenge.
There was definitely fatigue in Zurich. It was difficult to do the best after the World Championship. The warm-up was also a bit difficult, it took a while. I was struggling in the first three throws, my run-up was also not right. Throws were weak, not quite on pace. After the third round, I felt that I would not be able to finish in the top eight. But in the last three throws, I pulled myself together and not only gave my 100 per cent, but also threw two throws more than 85 metres.
Neeraj Chopra
Winning the first Olympic title in Tokyo was a big challenge and defending it now will be an even bigger challenge as again every athlete will come fully prepared. There will be more pressure than the Tokyo Olympics because there will be more expectations than ever and even I have expectations from myself. But the most important thing for me would be to protect myself from injury. I have to stay healthy and injury free so that I can win all my titles again.
Chopra had finished second at the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday, saying he had a cough and sore throat ahead of the World Championship. He said, ‘I did not want to tell this earlier because people could take it as an excuse. But before the qualification round, I had cough and sore throat. I was having trouble. I was having problems in Zurich as well. I was not 100% well, but I will be fine. Such is the life of an athlete.
Just three days later, Chopra competed in the Zurich Diamond League and admitted that he struggled with the first three throws. He started with a throw of 80.79m and fouled the next two throws. Chopra threw the javelin 85.22 meters in the fourth attempt and fouled in the fifth. But then won the silver medal by throwing 85.71 meters in the last attempt. He said he could have avoided over-stressing his body by qualifying for the Diamond League Finals to be held on September 16 (September 17 in India) in Eugenie, USA.
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