I don’t think of crossing any mark while throwing, reveals Neeraj Chopra

10/05/2018

CWG and Asiad javelin throw gold medalist Neeraj Chopra has revealed that he doesn’t think about crossing any mark while throwing, stating that it is part of the mental process. The national record holder also said that his next target would be the World Championships scheduled for 2019 in Doha.

The flag-bearer for India in Jakarta ended his campaign with a stunning throw of 88.06 m as he clinched the gold medal. However, apart from that, the Panipat-born has crossed the 85 m mark seven times this year, which included a poor fourth-place finish at the Diamond League in Doha earlier in April where he threw 87.43m. And Chopra has been of the opinion that consistency was a gradual process and he has trained himself not to think of reaching distances since the very beginning.

“While throwing, I don’t think about crossing any mark. This year, I have crossed the 85 m mark more than five times but this is part of the process. Such things help mentally. But to do it again and again requires a lot of training. And that has been my focus since I started the sport,” said Chopra in an interview with The Indian Express, during his visit to the athletics track at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex.

The 20-year-old, who had joined athletics simply to lose weight, had trained in the centre from 2011 to 2015 by coach Naseem Ahmed. During those five years, he made the new junior national record of 68.4m in Lucknow and a new U-18 national record of 76.50m in Vijayawada in 2014. Lamenting the fact that the centre was now closed, Chopra stated that the country needed more of them in different districts.

The three athletes, who had finished ahead of Chopra in Doha were Germans - Thomas Rohler, Johannes Vetter and Andreas Hofmann – who had all crossed the 90m mark. And Chopra, who has been training under German coach Uwe Hohn, the only athlete to cross the 100 m mark with a throw of 104.80m in Berlin in 1984, heaped praise on the advancement of the sports in the country.

“Last year, I trained in Germany and the fact that the current top three javelin throwers come from Germany speaks about the competition. The kind of infrastructure and specialised training machines for javelin they have in Germany makes an athlete aspire for more such training. Things are also changing in India after my medals.

“This year, we have seen four Indian throwers crossing the 80 m mark and more such competition augurs well for India. My next target is the Asian and World Championships in Doha in 2019 and training under Uwe Hohn Sir has been one of my dreams,” Chopra added.

I don’t think of crossing any mark while throwing, reveals Neeraj Chopra

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