With 90m monkey off his back, Neeraj Chopra says aiming to throw farther now

Relieved, happy but a touch disappointed too, Indian javelin throw star Neeraj Chopra said now that he is done breaching the 90m mark, he would be striving to go farther as his body is more or less free of the niggles that plagued him in the past few years.

The 27-year-old two-time Olympic-medallist sent his spear to 90.23m in the Diamond League season-opener here on Friday but finished second overall after Germany’s Julian Weber took the top spot with a 91.06m effort in his final throw.

“I am very happy with the 90m mark but it’s a little bit of a bittersweet experience actually. But never mind, I and my coach [the legendary Jan Zelezny] are still working on some aspects of my throw.

“We started working together only in February this year. I am still learning things,” Chopra said after the event.

Zelezny, who holds the world record for the longest throw (98.48m), doesn’t normally attend Diamond Leagues but the Czech came with Chopra last night because he felt “today is the day to achieve 90m”. “I was always feeling something in my groin in the last few years. I did not give my best because of that. This year I feel much better, we will also work on some aspects and so I believe I can throw more than 90m in the upcoming events this year till the World Championships,” Chopra said.

The Haryana-lad will enter the September 13 to 21 world championship in Tokyo as the defending gold-medallist in his event. The throw here would do a world of good to his confidence.

It was his third attempt of the night and one that made him only the third Asian and 25th overall to cross the coveted mark, that was eluding him for the last five years.

The Zelezny effect on him would be hard to ignore. He was roped in as Chopra’s coach in November last year but they started working together only in February this year.

“I am very happy that Jan Zelezny is my coach and we worked very hard in South Africa. We are still working on some aspects,” he said.

Asked about his next goal, Chopra offered a cheeky response.

“My next goal remains 90m,” he said.

On a more serious note, the affable superstar said he is confident of bettering what was a career-best effort last night.

“I believe I am ready to throw farther. It’s just the beginning of a long season,” he said.

Dwelling on what made the landmark throw possible on a windy night, Chopra said the conditions worked in his favour.

“When I was having warm-up throws my coach said, ‘today is the day when I can throw 90m’. After my 90m throw also, he told me I can throw 2-3m farther,” he said.

“The wind helps for sure and the weather is a little warm and that helps. It’s the first competition of the year, so everyone came with a fresh mindset after a long time and had the hunger inside for the throwing part (sic),” he added.

As always, Chopra exhibited exemplary grace despite his disappointment at missing the top spot. He applauded Weber for his performance and said they help each other push the boundaries.

“I also told Julian [Weber] that we can throw 90m. I am also happy for him. We have tried very hard for 90m for so many years, and so we are happy.

“It’s like a good push between us and in the next competition we will push each other again and will throw farther,” he said.

But Chopra did rue the fact that he has finished second whenever he has breached the national record.

“It had happened earlier also. When I threw an NR with over 89m in Turku, I finished second (sic). In Stockholm DL, when I threw 89.94m, I was second again, so also here,” Chopra said.

Weber happy for Neeraj

Weber, on his part, said he did not do anything extra but had a feeling that he can breach the 90m mark here.

It was Weber’s first 90m-plus effort as well, and he became the 26th javelin thrower to breach the coveted mark. His effort was the world leading mark this season so far.

“I did not know how it happened. I had a very good massage thanks to my physiotherapist. It was fun today. Neeraj threw his first 90m plus and I went past the mark in my last throw and that was just perfect.

“I was very happy for him. We have been fighting for the 90m throw for a long time and we both achieved that today. So, it was very special for us.” Two-time world champion and Paris Olympics bronze-medallist Anderson Peters of Grenada was third with his opening throw of 84.65m.