Neeraj Chopra revels in bittersweet date with history
Neeraj Chopra registered his first 90m throw, a box he had desperately wanted to check for the past few years.
New Delhi: Neeraj Chopra finally has the proverbial monkey off his back. The Indian javelin ace came good in ideal throwing conditions on Friday night to register his first 90m throw, a box he had desperately wanted to check for the past few years. Chopra’s 90.23m effort though wasn’t enough to win the Doha Dimond League as Germany’s Julian Weber unfurled a 91.06m throw on his final attempt to walk away with top honours.
Like Chopra, whose three of four legal throws went beyond 88 metres, Weber too was consistency personified as he crossed 89m twice before logging his first 90m throw.
“It is a little bit bittersweet result,” Chopra, 27, said.
“I am very happy for the 90m, but this second place – it actually happened to me also when I competed in Turku and in Stockholm. I threw 89.94 and I was second. I am second here also. I broke the national record and got second place today,” he added.
The two-time Olympic medallist, however, credited Weber for his sterling show.
“I am very happy for Julian Weber. He threw 91m and we both broke the 90m barrier for the first time today. We have been trying this for so many years, so finally, we managed to get it. It was just a first competition of the year so I am confident that at the next competitions, I will throw far,” the reigning world champion said.
The result marks an encouraging start to the season for Chopra who won the Potch Invitational Meet in Potchefstroom, South Africa last month where he threw 84.52m without seemingly exerting himself.
Weber, however, couldn’t have had a better start to his season. Competing for the first time since a disappointing Paris Olympics where his 87.40m was good enough only for the sixth place, the 30-year-old was gracious enough to commend Chopra on breaching the 90m barrier after a long wait.
“I was really happy for him because he was fighting for that throw over 90m for some time and it was really special to achieve it tonight,” he said.
“I don’t know what happened tonight, I think I’ll have to watch it! I just felt amazing today, I didn’t know how that happened because the previous weeks weren’t that good for me, but I was just feeling great, my physio gave me a really good massage. The crowd was amazing, there was a great background and also helped me throw beyond 90 metres for the first time. It also was the winning throw in the last round, so it came out really perfect. I know I have so much potential and when I train well I am confident that good thing can happen,” Weber added.
