Neeraj Chopra, of India, competes in qualifications for the men's javelin throw at the World Athletics Championships. (AP)Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra did what he does best – dominating a field of javelin throwers. Chopra was the first athlete in Group A to have a go at qualifying and the automatic qualifying mark of 83.50 metres was unlikely to trouble him. He produced 88.39 metres to wrap up his day early and lay down the marker for the final on Sunday morning.
At around 5.30 am IST, Chopra launched his bid to become the first male javelin thrower since Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen in 2009 to be the title holder in both the Olympics and the World Championships at the same time. Before Thorkildsen, the legendary Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic was the owner of the two prestigious gold medals simultaneously.
As the commentator predicted, "he wants one & done" #NeerajChopra does it pretty quickly & with ease before admin's laptop could wake up 🤣
With 88.39m, Olympic Champion from 🇮🇳 #India enters his first #WorldAthleticsChamps final in some style 🫡 at #Oregon2022 pic.twitter.com/y4Ez0Mllw6
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) July 22, 2022
Like during qualifying for the final at the Tokyo Olympics, Chopra looked in no trouble. In Tokyo he had thrown 86.65 metres to make the final. His 88-plus throw on Friday morning was a metre and a half less than his national record of 89.94 metres. But in qualifying Chopra would not have gone all out.as he was only required to go beyond the automatic qualifying mark. That he could touch 88 metres is an indication that he can push further in the final.
Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch was the other thrower to automatically qualify for the final in the first round with a throw of 85.23 metres.
Spending the least amount of time during qualifying in the hot conditions at the Hayward Field was the ideal start to Chopra’s World Championships. In a technical event, which is also injury prone, a smooth throw like the one Chopra produced in qualifying can be a major confidence booster going into the final. Consistency in technique is a major strength of Chopra’s, his coach Dr Klaus Bartonietz had said.
☝️ throw is enough!
Olympic champion @Neeraj_chopra1 🇮🇳 throws an automatic qualifier of 88.39m and heads onto the javelin final.
Live results 📊 https://t.co/KiF81ROvIy#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/m6Oamal2nD
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) July 22, 2022
Chopra has not been short on confidence and big throws this season.
An 89.30 metres at the Paavo Nurmi Games, his first competition after the Olympics, to finish second, 86.69 on a slippery runway at the Kuortane Games for first place and 89.94 at the Stockholm Diamond League, just behind World Champion Anderson Peters of Grenada.
After a late start to his season because of unending felicitation ceremonies post the Olympics, Chopra was in a race against time to reach peak fitness. He first had to lose the 13 to 14 kilograms he had put on and gain athletic fitness. For that he travelled to Chula Vista in California and began training in December. Once most of the extra weight was shed he started off with light throws.
Because of paucity of time, Chopra had to train smartly. He had said he was a little down on strength compared to the Tokyo Olympics, but a faster arm speed and improvements in technique were working for him. A more efficient and strong block of the leg before release is also working to his advantage.
“Before going to Tokyo we were in Bhubaneshwar (the throwers camp was moved to the Odisha capital from Patiala). Back then my strength was more compared to today. When it comes to lifting or jumps and all, I was stronger. If I talk about my strength in Tokyo, my full squat was 160 kilograms to 170 kilograms. Now I have done up to 140 kilograms because of the lack of time to build strength. This time the focus is on the technique. My strength is at a good level but the technique in throws is important, like the angle of the throw and that is helping me,” Chopra said.
One of the methods Chopra has used to improve his arm speed is to throw with a lighter javelin in practice. The standard javelin used in the men’s event weighs 800 grams and Chopra uses one which is 100 grams lighter to work on arm speed.
“It is not easy to improve it (arm speed). My natural arm speed is good. We can’t do too much exercise (to improve arm speed), but we can throw with light javelin. In practice after throwing with 800 grams javelin, I throw with a 700 gram javelin to see how fast the arm is. It is lighter and the arm will go faster. The angle of the javelin needs to be good (34 to 36 degrees) and the arm speed too. If arm speed is fast, the force will be transferred to the javelin,” Chopra said.
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He has spoken about the belief of being able to throw 90-metres this season and going by his qualifying round performance, breaking the barrier could be on the cards during the final.
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