The Tokyo gold medalist had just missed the mark in Stockholm last year, but he hopes to overcome it this time.
The Doha Jewel Association meet last year saw two spear hurlers move beyond the 90m imprint. With a throw of 93.07 meters, Grenada’s Anderson Peters, a two-time world champion, holds the record for the fifth-longest throw in history.
Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Jakib Vadlejch has a personal best of 90.88 meters. Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic gold medalist from India, will also be competing this time around, hoping to win in the desert city.
Chopra will start another season amidst an exceptionally cutthroat field, including Peters and Vadlejch, at the Suhaim container Hamad Arena.
Last year, Chopra had a heavenly season, coming out on top for silver at the big showdowns notwithstanding the Precious Stone Association title.
However, at the Diamond League meet in Stockholm, he had thrown 89.94 meters, narrowly missing the 90-meter mark.
Chopra wants to clear the 90-meter barrier as soon as possible this year. “It is always beneficial to have formidable rivals.
I’m hoping for a great competition tomorrow because this is my first competition of the season. Significantly, Doha is renowned for 90m tosses, so truly anticipating an incredible outcome tomorrow,” expressed Chopra during an authority press meet.
Due to a groin injury, he sustained at the World Championships in Eugene, the 25-year-old athlete had to withdraw from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. He went on to win two Diamond League competitions after that.
In November and December, he worked out at the high-performance center at Loughborough University. This year, he also worked out with coach Klaus Baronietz and physiotherapist Ishaan Marwah in Potchefstroom, South Africa, and Turkey.
Chopra has been monitoring the performance of young throwers in India, despite his packed schedule.
According to Chopra, “Javelin is really improving in India.”
“We already have 6-7 throwers (who have thrown) above 80m, and 2-3 new throwers have gone beyond 80m this year.”
We won our first Olympic gold medal in athletics in Tokyo. Our competitors performed very well both in the Tokyo Olympics and the Paralympics.
There is an adjustment of Indian games after Tokyo and junior competitors are coming up incredibly. Ideally, in the following Olympics, we will win more awards.”
When asked about the reason for India’s throwers’ improvement, he stated, Cricket is very popular in India, and we have skilled fast bowlers. Their arms are quick. Because javelin also requires extremely quick arms, India has a natural talent for it.”
Eldhose will make his DL debut, so Neeraj won’t be the only Indian present in Doha. Eldhose Paul, a triple jumper who won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, will also be there to compete in his first Diamond League meet.
This year, Paul participated in two competitions and set a personal best of 16.61 meters at the Indian open jumps meet. His preparation has been impacted as he recovers from a heel injury.
“I’m seeming to be more reliable with 17m leaps this year,” said Paul, who won the CWG gold with a leap of 17.03m.
“The air is a little bit humid, but it is windy at night. The objective is to get ready for bigger meets like the Asian Games and World Championships,” Paul stated.