Neeraj Chopra inspired the unprecedented feat of three Indians making it into the final of an event at the World Athletics Championships with a sensational opening throw that lifted the hitherto sombre mood in the team and infused much cheer. In characteristic fashion, the 25-year-old Chopra put himself in position for a second successive podium finish at the World Championships, after his silver in Eugene in 2022.
It did not take much effort to see Chopra exercise great control over his mind in the qualifying round in Budapest on Friday. The ease with which he does that makes him the master of his craft,,while respecting it immensely. By taking a leaf out of his book in their first international competition with him, DP Manu and Kishore Kumar Jena also gave India a story to cherish.
It is the kind of story that may distract attention from the inability of the five jumpers and Avinash Sable, in the 3000m steeplechase, to bring their A game to the World Championships. Jeswin Aldrin’s 11th place in the men’s long jump came as a consolation after the jumps’ quintet – two in long jump and three in the triple jump – raised expectations with their showing earlier in the season.
It is much more than a mere distraction from all that has happened – or not happened – this week. As they punched their tickets to the final, the three Indians made history. For a nation that has sent only a handful of finalists in the World Championships since its first participation in 1983, talk of three in the same final would have been scoffed at as a pipedream.
Of course, the absence of Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad & Tobago) owing to an ankle injury during the warm-up, the patchy form of 2015 World Champion Julius Yego (Kenya), the withdrawal of 2017 champion Johannes Vetter (Germany) due to a shoulder injury and the fitness struggles of the two-time champion Anderson Peters (Grenada) combined to leave the field shorn of much lustre.
In designing his warm-up and competition plan for the day, Chopra’s mind drew the most from a couple of experiences, his own at the 2017 World Championships in London and that of M Sreeshankar from a couple of days ago in the long jump qualifying. Back in 2017, Chopra was conservative with his first throw and did not make it to the final since he was not able to get going.
He also managed his warm-up rather smartly, not working himself up with the others since he was drawn as the 18th and last athlete in his group. He did not want to face the same issues as Sreeshankar did the other morning when the long jumper’s body got tight because of the long wait between the warm-up and his first try.
In any case, he was just being Chopra. In a game of millimeters, he very nearly fouled his throw as the force he imparted to the spear threatened to carry him past the runway on to the grass, but his mind commandeered his fingers not to be wooed by the line and he managed a great escape. The javelin did his bidding, punching turf at 88.77m, the longest he has thrown this year.
It could have been a day on which the manner and method of Chopra held centrestage, but the bigger story from an Indian perspective was the trio getting to the final and each of them recalling that Rohit Yadav could have made it a rare quartet from one country in a final. There was no mistaking that Chopra loved some of the spotlight being on his unheralded teammates.
Manu and Jena, perhaps aware that the most popular athlete was soaking in the pressure and bossing the field, showed no signs of nerves when making their respective debuts on the global stage and uncorked throws exceeding 80m.
Manu was lucky that Chopra could share some of his insights with him. Of course, the Olympic gold medalist was careful not to overload his compatriot with his observations, respecting the latter’s coach and preparations. It resulted in Manu finding the 80m mark on his second attempt.
Jena, who had to endure a tense wait before he secured his visa to travel to Budapest and missed some crucial days of training, made light of being not so fortunate as to have Chopra for company in the competition area, and threw the javelin past the 80m mark on his first attempt in the World Championships.
However, even if nothing can be predicted in sport, Manu and Jena may find the going tough on Sunday. Of the big guns in the final, Chopra and Julian Weber are not yet members of the 90m club. Jakub Valdejch (Czech Republic) and Arshad Nadeem (Pakistan) have shown themselves as athletes who do well in big-ticket events.
Weber, Germany’s flagbearer in Vetter’s absence, added to the chatter by saying that throwing on Sunday evening would be different ball game altogether. “Usually when I have a bad technique session, the next one is always better,” he said. “Chopra is in really good shape and has very nice throws, so that motivates me. I will try to follow in his steps on Sunday.”
Indeed, what happens in the final will matter the most but, for now, India can celebrate the unprecedented event of three athletes figuring together in a World Championships final. Steeplechaser Parul Chaudhury is the fourth Indian who will be seen in action on Sunday, while the men’s 4×400 relay team can add to the positive notes after several days of lows.
The results (Indians in qualification):
Men
Javelin Throw: 1. Neeraj Chopra 88.77m; 6. DP Manu 81.31; 9. Kishore Kumar Jena 80.55.