Neeraj Chopra faced heartbreak in Tokyo on Thursday, failing to defend his World Athletics Championships title in the men's javelin throw final. He had to settle for a measly eighth spot and was also outperformed by debutant and countryman Sachin Yadav. Yadav registered a personal best to finish in fourth position. Chopra was eliminated after the fifth and penultimate round, with a best effort of 84.03m.
Trinidadian athlete Keshorn Walcott clinched gold with a best throw of 88.16m, and Grenada Anderson Peters (87.38m) came second. Meanwhile, American athlete Curtis Thompson bagged bronze with a best throw of 86.67m.
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What did Neeraj Chopra say?
Speaking after the final, a disappointed Neeraj blamed injury issues for the result and revealed that at one point, he wasn't sure if he would participate in the event.
"I don't know. It is fine, it is sports, its life. I have seen this for a long time, normally I would handle the situation. But today, it was a different day. Actually before coming, when we were training in Czech Republic, only few team members knew that I am dealing with an injury problem, I also told the federation, that I have some back issues. I couldn't train for two weeks. So, I was going through rehabilitation", he said.
"At the beginning, we weren't sure if I would participate or not, but we still took the decision. I did an easy session to make sure that I can play, and yesterday it was an easy throw. But still I felt that I would try, but it didn't happen because I didn't train much and I wasn't feeling that healthy. But whatever happened today, I will learn from this and I will bounce back next season."
{{/usCountry}}"At the beginning, we weren't sure if I would participate or not, but we still took the decision. I did an easy session to make sure that I can play, and yesterday it was an easy throw. But still I felt that I would try, but it didn't happen because I didn't train much and I wasn't feeling that healthy. But whatever happened today, I will learn from this and I will bounce back next season."
{{/usCountry}}Sachin was a positive for Indian fans, as he registered a personal best of 86.27m and narrowly missed out on a podium finish.
Congratulating his countryman, Neeraj said, "I am very happy for Sachin. I was thinking today that India will take a medal, but its fine. He performed in such a big platform with such nice throws. I am very happy. Our javelin future is secured."
Reigning Olympic champion and Neeraj's arch-rival, Arshad Nadeem, also had a shocking outing and came 10th with a best throw of 82.75m. Nadeem has also been dealing with injury issues and recently had surgery.