Neeraj Chopra: My mindset is to have same intensity till the last throw

The Olympic javelin champion faces a fresh challenge in a world athletics championships field comprising many 90-plus throwers

Neeraj Chopra doesn’t like to leave it late. His big throws invariably come early, but that in no way means he expends his energy in the initial rounds. Ahead of the World Athletics Championships starting in Eugene on Friday, the Olympic champion who has run into some hot form, said if required he can hurl the javelin the farthest deep into the competition, even in the fifth and sixth rounds.

Neeraj Chopra recalled instances where his best has come towards the end of a competition (REUTERS)

Chopra recalled instances where his best has come towards the end of a competition. At the 2017 Asian Championships he won gold throwing 85.23m in his last attempt. Last year, he set a national record (88.07m) at the Indian Grand Prix with his fifth throw. He has since improved on his record twice and his best now stands at 89.94m, achieved while finishing second at the Diamond League in Stockholm recently.

“You want to get a big throw early but there are six attempts and I try to give my best in every attempt. Sometimes your best might not come in the first or second throw and you need to keep pushing yourself. I remember at the Asian Championships I won gold on my last throw and last year in the Federation Cup I got my best of 87.80 with my last throw. I was striking 83m until then,” India’s big medal hope said during a virtual media interaction from his US training base on Wednesday.

“My mindset is to have the same focus and energy even in the last throw because you never know who can edge you till the end. The last throw is equally important.”

That said his rivals will be wary of Chopra because he knows how to put the field under pressure straight away. Chopra has nicely set himself up for the major event. In three meetings this season, he has broken his national record twice, once falling short of 90m by just 6cm. Twice he pipped the world’s leading thrower this season, Current world champion Anderson Peters, while finishing second to the Grenada thrower at Stockholm. Chopra is third, behind Peters (93.07) and Tokyo silver-medallist Jakub Vadlejch (90.88m) in the season’s best list.

Chopra’s remarkable consistency since return to competition following a long break after the Olympics also points to his technical prowess. In three tournaments, he has taken 15 attempts, of which 10 were legal throws. He has gone past 86m in seven of them. At Stockholm, Chopra opened with 89.94m with three of his further throws also 86 plus. Peters surpassed him with a 90.31m in his third attempt.

“It is not only about the winning throws. I am taking a lot of confidence from my consistency. Going past my personal best twice is also a good feeling and I am just 6 cm off 90m. I hope I can get it at the worlds.

“I am happy with the strength and power I put behind each throw. If I get the angle of release more perfect, the javelin can fly 2-3 metres more.”

Chopra says the competition among the top throwers is of high quality and the worlds will witness a tough battle.

“There's very little to separate the top throwers. A lot of people have thrown over 89. Peters, Jakub, Julian Webber and Keshorn Walcott have all done well. Germany’s Andreas Hofmann has come back. A lot of other throwers are doing consistently, which shows the competition will be really tough.”

Chopra became junior world champion in 2016. A year later, in his first senior world championships in London, he didn’t make the cut for the final. It was lesson well learnt.

“One thing I learned from my first worlds in 2017 is to not take qualification lightly. The qualifying mark was around 83m and I thought I'll do it easily. You can’t take it easy at any stage, you have to give your best even in the qualifiers. I told this to Rohit (Yadav), who will be playing in his first worlds.”

He has spent a lot of time at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center in California since the Tokyo Olympics with German coach Klaus Bartonietz and physio Ishaan Marwaha. The arrival of the rest of the Indian squad there has helped him unwind.

“It is good to have them around. I have sessions with Rohit; sometimes I go with sprinters. Closer to the competition, it is also important to relax, so we either go out for a bit or listen to music.”