E-Paper
Injured at Worlds, Neeraj will not defend CWG gold
Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra’s hopes of defending his javelin title at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (CWG) were dashed on Tuesday due to a groin injury sustained during a historic silver medal at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday night.
Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra’s hopes of defending his javelin title at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (CWG) were dashed on Tuesday due to a groin injury sustained during a historic silver medal at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday night.
India’s sure-fire medal hope at the CWG had spoken of discomfort on Sunday, and the problem turned out to be serious enough for Chopra to pull out of the Birmingham Games.
“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, Chopra had an MRI scan done on Monday and, based on it, he has been advised a month’s rest by his medical team,” Indian Olympic Association (IOC) secretary-general Rajeev Mehta said in a statement on Tuesday.
Chopra was to be India’s flag-bearer in the opening ceremony of the 2022 CWG. The India contingent officials were yet to finalise his replacement till late on Tuesday.
The talismanic thrower from Haryana has been a picture of consistency since making his comeback from elbow surgery ahead of the Tokyo Olympics last year. He overcame a lack of time and meets in a Covid-hit world to nail India’s first-ever athletics medal in the Olympics. Following that grand success, he could not return to training until late December, but produced impressive performances in three meets in the build-up to the Eugene Games.
Chopra qualified for the final at the Worlds with a single throw, but he had to grapple with windy conditions in the title clash, and wasn’t sure of a place on the podium until a fourth round effort of 88.13m. At Birmingham, Chopra was expected to renew his duel with Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who won gold at Eugene with a series of 90m-plus throws.
“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 the next two attempts. I had strapping,” Chopra said on Sunday. “I will know the status tomorrow morning because my body is still warm after the event. I hope there should not be any issue for upcoming events, Commonwealth Games.”
“The morale will be down a bit for sure because he is the super star, but it is also an opportunity for other youngsters to step up. Nothing is more important than Neeraj’s fitness and it is a decision that has been taken by the experts. Groin strain is a very common issue among javelin throwers. But he should recover soon. Anyway, the season has almost ended,” Anju Bobby George, former long jump star and member of the Athletics Federation of India’s selection committee, said.
The CWG ends on August 8. All the four Diamond League meets following that have javelin competition, at Monaco (Aug 10), Lausanne (Aug 26), Brussels (Sept 2) and Zurich (Sept 7/8). The 2023 world athletics championships will be held in Budapest in August, which will be followed by the postponed Asian Games in China (Sept-Oct). Chopra will then prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, India won three medals in athletics. Besides Chopra’s gold, Seema Antil and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon won silver and bronze respectively in the women’s discus.
