Vishnu Reddy in Zurich
Following his second-place finish at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich, Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra discussed his performance, identifying key technical areas to improve before the World Championships in Tokyo. He shares his thoughts on the challenging day, the motivation from his competitors, the growing strength of Indian javelin with four athletes qualifying for Tokyo, and his advice for the entire Indian contingent.
Q: Today wasn’t your day; you finished second. Did you feel you lacked some form, as the performance didn’t look as good as usual?
Neeraj Chopra: Absolutely. There are some hard days in sports, so today was probably very hard for me. I don’t know if the timing was not so good. Still, in the last throw, I pushed myself a lot and managed to go over 85 meters. But I am very happy for Julian [Weber]. He threw very well today. And now we have time for the World Championship [in Tokyo]. That is my biggest goal for this year. So, now there is a need to understand what is wrong, and that has to be corrected for the World Championship.
Q: Julian Weber took the lead in his first throw and improved on it. How did that affect you? Did it increase the pressure?
Neeraj Chopra: I always try to find out how to get my own throw. Of course, I get motivated when someone throws well; I always get a chance to push myself. But right from the beginning today, my run-up was not working properly, so I felt that today was going to be difficult. This is my third time coming second here. We won the trophy in the Diamond League Final in 2022. We need to find a little better timing, and we will prepare well for Tokyo.
Q: You managed to improve in the last throw and maintained your streak of finishing in the top two. How do you view this result?
Neeraj Chopra: Yes, it was top two, but the throw was not that good. Still, the position also matters. It was fine. I had the same thought that for a long time after the Tokyo Olympics, the second position was maintained. So today also it remained intact, but the throw was not that good. But as I told you, we have three weeks for Tokyo, and we won our gold in Budapest [at the last World Championships], so I will try to defend that title. I will work hard for that.
Q: Where will you be training for the World Championships in Tokyo, and what specific areas of your technique will you be working on?
Neeraj Chopra: Right now, I am here in Europe because my coach is from the Czech Republic, so I was training there. We will try to go to Tokyo a week or 10 days before, as the timings will change and the body also needs some time to adjust. The main thing to work on is the timing. I think somewhere in training, I am getting it right, but in competitions, I still feel that what I used to do earlier and what I do now get mixed up. Javelin is very specific; if you mess up even a little point, it has a huge impact. The biggest problem is I am going to the left very quickly, so the power which I have to put on the javelin is completely wasted. So, I have to try to wait a little more and throw the javelin a little straighter.
Q: For the first time, four javelin throwers from India will be competing at the World Championships. How do you feel about the growing strength of Indian javelin?
Neeraj Chopra: Of course, I am very happy. Last time [in Budapest] also, we had this opportunity, but we were only three because Rohit [Yadav] had an injury. This time Rohit has qualified, so finally, four of us are going. I am very happy. Last time, we had three athletes in the top six. This time we will try so that we all go to the finals again and finish at least in the top eight. It will be a very big thing for our country. I am very happy that our javelin is reaching such heights, and we will try to take it even higher. This is definitely showing that our javelin is becoming so strong that new javelin throwers are emerging. It will be very good to compete with them.
Q: What are your expectations for the entire Indian contingent at the World Championships in Tokyo?
Neeraj Chopra: I would like to tell everyone that we should try to at least achieve our personal best. The best athletes of the world come there, and if we can perform consistently and try to do our personal best, that will also be very good. So that is my only advice: that everyone should prepare for their personal best.
Q: There was an expectation of rain today, but it held off. How did you find the weather conditions?
Neeraj Chopra: The weather was quite good; there was no rain. At least that was the biggest thing. Since yesterday, we were thinking about it. It was a little cold, and cold is not good for me; it is quite a struggle for me to throw. But it did not rain. This is quite lucky because there is a risk of (an) injury when the run-up becomes slippery. So, we are very happy that at least it did not rain today.
Q: Looking back at the competition, is there anything specific you feel you could have done better?
Neeraj Chopra: Yes, I should have made a good throw. That did not happen. But now, I will go and check the videos to see what was lacking and then see what I can do better. Because now the previous match is gone, what I should have done better is not in my hands. But I will definitely focus on what I can do better now. This year’s main focus is Tokyo, there are three weeks left for that, and we will prepare for it. We will improve the shortcomings that we see now.
Q: How do you split your time between India and your training base in the Czech Republic?
Neeraj Chopra: After the season, I stay in India for the entire time. But when the competitions are going on, almost all our competitions are in Europe, so I try to train here. It is quite good to travel from here. We keep adapting to the weather here. Earlier, when I used to travel from India, it involved very long journeys. So, now, when there are competitions with a week or two in between, I try to train here itself. Travel time is less, and the weather conditions for training remain the same.
Q: After the success of events like the Neeraj Chopra Classic, what more needs to be done to elevate athletics in India?
Neeraj Chopra: We need to bring more international events to India, so that our athletes get a chance to compete with top athletes and the public can see them more in India itself. This will be the biggest initiative, and the rest of the mindset of the athletes will keep changing. Our athletics will go further up. I also like to tell our Indian people that you should also take interest in sports and see how people from outside follow every Olympic sport. If our general public supports us, our country can be taken up further.
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