‘Challenge is converting sweat into strength’: Neeraj Chopra

Express News Service

CHENNAI: “Runway achcha hona, speed se bhagna, throw karna aur uske baad rokna bhi hai… (Runway should be good, need to run fast, throw hard and then stop. That’s what I am working on right now closer to competition.” A simple but beautiful philosophy about javelin throw. Neeraj Chopra’s words captured its essence quite succinctly. Turning that into perfection through days of rigour and toil is every thrower’s endeavour.

As the competition cycle draws closer, Neeraj has started training on the finer aspects of throwing. And he says he is getting there. Everything is going as per plan and would be ready by next month. 

He did admit that it took him some time to get back into prime fitness but then losing weight is art too, especially for sportspersons. The 24-year-old lost some 12 kgs he had put during the break after the Tokyo gold in August but the challenge was to convert that into something positive. 

“It’s easy for an athlete to shed 10-12kg in a week or 10 days,” he said during a virtual interaction from Antalya, his training base, on Saturday. 

“The challenge is converting sweat into strength. That’s a struggle. I took time and eventually it turned out good. I am fit and fine.” His last competition was at the Olympics in August, nine months ago.

Neeraj’s target, to breach the 90-m mark, is still raging in his heart but he is not worried or fixed any timeframe. “In the first one or two international events, anything around 87-88m would be good,” he said. The competition would allow him to test his fitness and would know what he is lacking and then work on it. “We will know what kind of training and practice is required to excel,” he said.

After months of hard work, he is set to begin his competition cycle next month. 

As reported by this newspaper, he would open with Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland. He would then participate at the Kourtane Games in Finland and then the Diamond League in Stockholm on June 30. Neeraj explained why he delayed entering competitions. Neeraj said that because of the Asian Games the season would have stretched very deep and that’s the reason why he and his team decided to skip Doha Diamond League and start with Paavo Nurmi Games. He said that when he and his team (including coach Klaus Bartonietz) were finalising the schedule, Asian Games was on and by the time it was cancelled, it was too late to rejig his schedule.

Neeraj felt the three competitions before the World Championships in Oregon would be enough. 

“Starting 40 odd days before the Worlds and three competitions too would be fine,” he said while stressing that before the competitions, he is fine-tuning his technique. “How to run and throw and what angle to take, etc,” he said. 

World Championships and later the Commonwealth Games would be his focus in the first half of the season. He would want to compete in a couple of Diamond Leagues later but that would be decided after the CWG. “It depends on how the body feels,” he said. 

Staying injury-free the whole season would be his focus. “Monaco Diamond League will be three days after the CWG final and that would be too close. 

Maybe Lausanne DL in August and the final DL in Zurich in September. There could be one or two other meets in between. But everything is tentative and depends on how the body feels,” he said. The dates after CWG would be finalised later.

He also talked about his interaction with star German throwers Johannes Vetter, 2016 Olympic gold-medallist Thomas Rohler and the legendary Jan Zelezny when the trio came visiting Antalya for training.

Neeraj, however, is quite pragmatic when asked about is performances this season. It all depends on that particular day and how you feel. 

Sometimes a throw may work sometimes it may not. 

“So look for success some other day,” he said. As the season begins, Neeraj gets ready for another big challenge — a medal at the senior Worlds. Something that’s possible.