World Athletics Championships 2022: Neeraj Chopra told his target, said – there will be a tough competition

Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who is gearing up for the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, USA, on Monday said the competition in the prestigious event will be tough as at least six players are consistently performing well and reaching figures of 89m. crossing over.

Tokyo Olympic champion Chopra also said that this year his target is to cross the 90m mark, which he came very close to during the Diamond League.

Chopra, who is in Eugene, USA, to participate in the World Championships, has had a stellar performance this season. The star player has improved to his personal best twice. He threw 89.30m at the Pavo Nurmi Games in Finland on June 14 and 89.94m at the prestigious Stockholm Diamond League event on June 30, missing out on a distance of 90m by just six centimeters.

Chopra finished second in the Diamond League behind world champion Anderson Peters of Granada. Peters won the gold medal with an effort of 90.31m.

Tokyo Olympic champion Chopra said about the challenge in the javelin throw event of the World Championships, starting with the qualifying round on July 21, “The competition in the World Championships is going to be very tough. Six players are consistently performing well and are throwing javelin for a distance of more than 89 metres. This time the match will be very exciting.

“I have set a target of more than 90m throw this year and in Diamond League I missed it by just six centimeters. Hopefully I will achieve this goal this year. However, when I enter a competition, I do not go with any goal. My whole focus is only on giving my 100 percent. I always go with this mindset and want to put all my energy into my endeavours.

Chopra may have lost to Peters in the Diamond League, but he has beaten Peters at the Pavo Nurmi Games and the Kuortane Games in Finland itself.

Apart from Peters and Chopra at the World Championships, Olympic silver medalist Yakub Wadlech (season’s best performance of 90.88m), Germany’s Julian Weber (89.54m), Trinidad and Tobago’s 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott (89.07m) and Finland’s Oliver Helander (89.83 m) are among the contenders for the medal.

When asked about preparing for the World Championships, Chopra told Eugene, “My preparations are going very well and I am ready to give my 100 percent once again. We are all accommodated at the University of Oregon and we are training in a different stadium.

He said, “The atmosphere here is very good. The best athletes in the world are present here. When someone meets a world and Olympic record holder in the gym and stadium, they get a lot of inspiration.

Chopra said that his focus is only on his performance and he is competing only to be better than himself. He said, “There are ups and downs in the game. Sometimes you do your best and sometimes you do even better. Sometimes you don’t reach your best performance. When the performance is not good, I work harder in training. My competition is with myself and I try to be better than myself.

Chopra’s inspiration and javelin thrower world record holder Yan Zeleny of Czech Republic is also present in Eugene and this Indian player is very happy to meet him. He said, “Yan Zeleny is also present here. I have met him twice. He is the world record holder and my favorite player. I get a lot of inspiration from them. ,

Chopra has tied up with Under Armor, a sports apparel and accessories company, and was speaking to the media for the same announcement. Under Armour’s managing director Tushar Gokuldas said he thought long before Chopra became the Olympic champion, he would be the face of their brand in India.

Tusshar said, “It gives me immense pleasure to announce the association of Neeraj with our company. It will be a long deal. You won’t believe that when we were planning to expand the company in India in 2018, long before Neeraj became the Olympic champion, I had imagined that he would be the face of our brand in the country. ,