The last time Neeraj Chopra turned up for a competition in India, he was five months from becoming the global superstar of his sport. The three years since that memorable night in Tokyo — when he became only the second individual Olympic gold medallist from India — have seen him establish himself as one of the most consistent javelin throwers in the world, illustrated by his two World Championships medals— including a historic gold — a Diamond League trophy, and the successful defence of his Asian Games crown.
Given the backdrop, it was of little surprise that the poster boy of Indian athletics’ rare home visit was a highly-anticipated affair. Security was beefed up around Kalinga Stadium for Chopra who arrived an hour later than planned in a three-car cavalcade. Entering the practice area flanked by compatriots DP Manu and Kishore Kumar Jena, he greeted the spectators with raised arms and a knowing nod, enough to send the sparse but vocal crowd into delirium.
The actual competition, though, failed to match the hype. On the humid evening in Bhubaneswar, the 26-year-old did just enough to win the Federation Cup, a n event he last won in 2021 in Patiala with a meet record of 87.80m.
Having started the season with a throw of 88.36m for a second-place finish at the Doha Diamond League last week, Chopra threw 82.27m on his fourth attempt to secure the win. Following that effort, he was seen speaking to his coach and biomechanics expert Klaus Bartonietz and physiotherapist Ishaan Marwaha before deciding to skip the remaining attempts.
Throwing without his trademark follow through where he allows his body to fall over to lend extra momentum to the spear, Chopra was visibly economical in his efforts. A series of 82m, x, 81.29 and 82.27m appears modest by his standards but the double Worlds medallist was barely challenged. Besides Chopra, only DP Manu, who led till the opening three throws, managed 80m plus efforts.
Gunning for a direct qualification for Paris Olympics (85.50m), Manu, who won the Indian Grand Prix I last month with a throw of 81.91m, produced a series of 82.06m, 77.23m, 81.43m, 81.47m, x, x but the Olympics entry standard remained out of reach for him.
Later, Chopra alluded to the stifling heat as one of the factors for his below par performance. Known for his consistent 85m-plus throws, he said his body did not respond as desired in the hot and humid conditions. “It was good fun to compete at home but there’s nothing much to talk about my throws. The conditions are quite different from Turkey where I train. The competition was good but the body didn’t feel that nice. I competed only recently in Doha, so rest and recovery didn’t go as planned. I decided not to go for the last two throws irrespective of the result because there’s a competition coming up soon,” he said.
“I think everyone barring Manu struggled with their throws today. At one point I felt Manu will win the competition. It is important to push each other at home. Once we have regular 85m-plus throws in domestic events, we’ll find more Indians excelling at big international events. The same happened with Germany when they had the likes of Johannes Vetter, Andreas Hofmann, and Thomas Rohler pushing each other with 90m throws in their national meets,” he added.
Chopra will next compete at the Golden Spike event in Ostrava, Czech Republic on May 28 which is likely to witness participation from Anderson Peters and Jakub Vadlejch. “The competition will be world class and I am really looking forward to it,” he said.
“There is a bunch of international events I am targetting in the run-up to Paris. Ostrava will be followed by Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland (June 18). I will take a call on other competitions post Turku,” he said. Both Ostrava and Turku events are Continental Tour Gold events and are likely to draw the cream of javelin throwers.
Asian Games silver medallist and local boy Kishore Kumar Jena also disappointed, barely managing a 75m-plus throw. His series read x, 75.49, x, x, 73.79, 75.25. Jena, who logged his personal best of 87.54m last year at the Hangzhou Asian Games, opened his season at the Doha Diamond League with the best effort of 76.31m to finish outside the eight finalists. Jena, too, has booked his ticket to Paris and the 28-year-old will be hoping to find form soon.
