Neeraj Chopra could not improve on his season best of 85.63 at the World Championships in London and did not make the final. File
His throws weren’t quite memorable but that doesn’t mean javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is likely to forget the World Athletics Championship at London any time soon. For the 19-year-old the biggest takeaway from the England trip was a chance to witness the training session of the Czech Republic javelin team. More specifically, standing transfixed watching legendary javelin thrower Jan Železný train his proteges Jakub Vadlejch and Petr Frydrych.
Considering he was without a coach in London, Chopra would have loved to interact with the all-time great and the world record holder but he kept a distance, taking mental notes that he would refer to when training.
After his Asian Athletics Championships gold, Chopra was expected to make an impact at the Worlds. That was not be as he failed to qualify for the final. Looking back, Chopra can put a finger on his flaws. “Speed during the approach run was an issue. I felt I was lacking speed and I was not in rhythm. I don’t know why I have lost some of my speed, but I need to figure out if I need to rework my technique. Nothing went right for me. I just could not throw to my potential,” says the teenager who registered a best throw of 82.36 metres during qualification. His second throw was a foul and the third 80.54.
Two days later, Chopra watched from the stands as Germany’s Johannes Vetter won gold (89.89m) . He also witnessed one of the all-time greats Mo Farah run his last race on the track, the 5000 metres, and finish second. “The world championships is the highest level of competition. There was a lot of expectations from me. I know people thought that since he has won a gold at the junior world championships, he will win a medal at the senior world championships. It does not work like that. I worked as hard as I possibly could but the effort I put in didn’t translate into success. But I am still young and the experience will hold me in good stead. There is a world of a difference if you compare junior and senior competition. Some of the throwers in the field had over a decade of experience.”
Chopra is back at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala and is looking forward to the Diamond League Finals in Zurich next week. He will once again have to manage without the expertise of a coach and will have to fallback on videos shot on his mobile phone to analyse his technique and find ways to iron out technical flaws.
“Technique is everything in javelin throw. You may have the power, but if your technique is awry then it can even result in injuries. Having a coach will be beneficial because there is an expert with you who can tell you what you are doing wrong, what you need to focus on and how you should plan your schedule. Currently, I am asking senior throwers for advice or figuring it out myself.”
Last month at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneshwar, Chopra, after starting with a foul and following it up with two 78-metre throws, didn’t seem like a medal contender. Yet he fed off the home crowd to produce his best throw of the evening in his final attempt — 85.23m — to win gold at the continental championships.
“Hopefully, there will be many more occasions when I will be at the top of the podium at a senior championships. In London, I didn’t fulfil my potential but I am confident that my fortune will change soon. Rest assured it is not because of lack of effort on my part.”
