Olympic Champion Neeraj Chopra He did what he does best – dominate the field of javelin throwers. Chopra was the first athlete to go into qualifying in Group A and the automatic qualifying mark of 83.50m was unlikely to trouble him. He produced 88.39m to finish his day early and laid the marker for the final on Sunday morning.
At around 5.30 pm IST, Chopra began his bid to become the first male javelin thrower since Andreas Thorkildsson of Norway in 2009 to be the title holder at the same time at both the Olympics and the World Championships. Prior to Thorkildsson, Czech Republic veteran Jan elezny was the owner of two coveted gold medals at once.
As the commenter predicted, “that one is wanted and done”. #NeerajChopra Does it happen very quickly and easily before the admin’s laptop can wake up
With 88.39 meters, the . Olympic champion from #India enters before #WorldAthleticsChamps at last in some style #Oregon2022 pic.twitter.com/y4Ez0Mllw6
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) 22 July 2022
For example, Chopra did not face any problem while qualifying for the finals at the Tokyo Olympics. In Tokyo, he threw 86.65m to make it to the final. His throw of more than 88 on Friday morning was one and a half meters short of his national record of 89.94m. But Chopra was not all out in qualifying as he only had to go past the automatic qualifying mark. He can touch a distance of 88 metres, a sign that he may go further in the final.
The other thrower to automatically qualify for the final was in the first round with a throw of 85.23m, Jakob Vadlejch of the Czech Republic.
Chopra’s ideal start to the World Championships was Chopra’s ideal start to the World Championships, spending as little time as possible qualifying in the hot conditions at Hayward Field. In a technical incident, which also has the potential for injury, an easy throw like Chopra’s built in qualifying can be a huge confidence booster to advance to the final. Consistency in technique is a great strength of Chopra, said his coach Dr. Klaus Bartonitz.
️ Enough to throw!
Olympic champion @neeraj_chopra1 Throws an automatic qualifier of 88.39m and enters the javelin final.
live results https://t.co/KiF81ROvIy#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/m6Oamal2nD
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) 22 July 2022
Chopra is no less in confidence and big throws this season.
Pavo Nurmi clocked 89.30 meters at the Games, his first competition since the Olympics, to finish second, 86.69 on a slippery runway at the Cuortaine Games and 89.94 in the Stockholm Diamond League, just behind world champion Andersen Peters of Granada.
After a late start to his season due to endless post-Olympics honor ceremonies, Chopra was in a race against time to reach peak fitness. He had to lose 13 to 14 kilograms first and regain athletic fitness. For this, he traveled to Chula Vista, California and began training in December. He started with lighter throws once most of the extra weight was gone.
Due to paucity of time, Chopra had to train tactfully. He had said that his strength was slightly lower than in the Tokyo Olympics, but that his faster arm movements and technique improvements were working for him. A more efficient and stronger block of foot before release is also working to his advantage.
“We were in Bhubaneswar before leaving for Tokyo (the throwers camp was moved from Patiala to the Odisha capital). At that time my strength was greater than today. When it comes to lifting or jumping and all, I was strong. If I talk about my strength in Tokyo, my full squat was from 160kg to 170kg. Due to lack of time to build strength now I have done up to 140kg. This time the focus is on technology. My strength is at a good level but technique is important in the throw, like the angle of the throw and that is helping me.”
One of the methods Chopra has used to improve her arm speed is to practice the lighter javelin throw. The standard javelin used in the men’s event weighs 800 grams and Chopra uses a 100-gram lighter javelin to work on hand movements.
“Improving it (arm speed) is not easy. My natural hand movement is good. We can’t do much exercise (to improve arm speed), but we can throw with a light javelin. After throwing an 800 gram javelin in practice, I throw a 700 gram javelin to see how fast the arm is. It is light and the hand will move fast. The angle of the spear should be good (34 to 36 degrees) and also the movement of the arm. If the hand movement is fast, the force will be transferred to the spear,” said Chopra.
He has spoken about the confidence of being able to throw 90 meters this season and with his qualifying round performances, breaking the barrier could be on the cards during the final.