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New Delhi: With Neeraj Chopra it was always a matter of when and not if. Destined for glory since he burst onto the scene nine years back with the under-20 world title — with a world record that still stands — Chopra had won everything there is going into Friday’s Diamond League meet in Doha. Everything but the distance he has so long desired.
The 90m barrier that was building Chopra’s frustration despite his consistent results was finally breached in the warm Qatari capital when his efforts and the elements came together in symphony. If it still wasn’t a perfect script, that is because Chopra’s 90.23m was pipped by Julian Weber’s 91.06m in the final attempt of the competition. For once, the fiercely competitive Indian wouldn’t have minded.
Chopra’s palatial residence in Haryana’s Khandra village houses his countless trophies and memories, but deep within him, the 27-year-old reigning world champion has long nurtured an ambition that even started to go beyond medals. The gnawing sense of incompleteness that comes from knowing you have not been able to get there. To an extent it starts feeling like unfulfilled potential.
The mind would hark back to that night in Paris where Chopra, desperate after Arshad Nadeem’s record-breaking 92.97m throw, willed himself to go the distance (pun intended). Held back by a groin niggle that had bothered him for a few years, Chopra’s 89.45m was enough only to take silver, not retain his Olympic title. Something flipped that night.
Chopra made no secret of his disappointment of not being able to hit 90m. Few months later, long-time coach Klaus Bartonietz made way for Jan Zelezny, a giant of the javelin sport who Chopra grew up idolising. The message was clear — Chopra was going for the only box left unchecked in his stunning resume. The duo began training this February in South Africa, and while some technical changes are still in the works, the Tokyo Olympics champion now has the crucial ‘feel’ of hitting 90m.
Elite athletes emphasise a lot on feel. It’s that inexplicable variable that fuels belief in mind and body and spawns that perfect mind-muscle connection. And once they get a hang of it, they hammer it down their consciousness, one training session at a time. Having uncorked that ‘feel’ in only his second outing of the season, Chopra has set himself up nicely for his title defence at the World Championships in Tokyo in September.
But as Friday showed, hitting 90m alone doesn’t guarantee success. Chopra’s elite consistency — he has never finished outside top-two since Tokyo 2021 — can sometimes lead one into taking his competition lightly. It’s anything but. Ten of Chopra’s contemporaries have thrown 90m or beyond, and barring Max Dehning and Keshorn Walcott, all have logged better distances than his 90.23m.
Good conditions invariably even out the field, more so for technically correct throwers such as Weber and Chopra who rely more on technique than raw power.
“The back wind here in Doha is great for us javelin throwers, if you get the travel right and throw a little higher, it just flies great. It’s also warm, makes you feel relaxed and easy, it all comes into place,” Weber said on Friday.
Then there are freaks such as Nadeem and Anderson Peters who always have a big throw in their arsenal and the likes of Johannes Vetter and Thomas Rohler who, despite not being at their best of late, have ample 90m ‘feel’.
The challenge for Chopra will be to stick to his great strength — consistency. For nine years, he has regularly hit the 86-88m bracket, a range that invariably puts him in medal position at major events. Once there, thanks to his fluid execution and the ability to stay composed under heavy pressure, he has thrived while the other throwers with better distances behind them waned.
Since 2022, Chopra has been flirting with the 90m mark regularly, often coming within centimetres of the mark. While that was a reflection of his unerring consistency, it also weighed him down. In every press meet, at every opportunity, the inevitable 90m question made an appearance. He would answer them earnestly, often cloaking his frustration. He wouldn’t need to now.
“Once I broke the 88-89m barrier, I consistently threw those distances. So, now I will try to keep throwing 90-plus metres. I believe I can throw much further, this is just the beginning,” Chopra said.
