Neeraj spears spot at Tokyo Games

Hyderabad: After claiming gold medals at the 2018 Commonwealth and Asian Games, one would expect to win bigger events in 2019 and bring more laurels. But sadly for Neeraj Chopra, things went south, real soon. The javelin star was hit by a severe elbow injury, forcing him to miss the entire 2019 season.

However, just 29 days and four throws into the new year, Neeraj has already earned India a quota at the Tokyo Olympics.

“The last year was very difficult for me. The injury was frustrating and the rehabilitation process was lonely. But I knew I had to train hard and not get bogged down as 2020 is an Olympic year and I had to qualify for the premier event,” Neeraj told this newspaper in an exclusive interview after qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 87.86 metres at the ACNE League in Potchefstroom, South Africa, on Tuesday.

Returning from an injury is always difficult for a  sportsperson but for Neeraj, who trained hard under the watchful eyes of his German coach Uwe Hohn at the North-West University (NWU) in South Africa, things worked out in the very first competition he participated post his injury.

“I was feeling a lot better in the last few weeks and was able to throw without any discomfort. So I decided to take part in the ACNE League. I competed with no expectations. Because competing with expectations only adds pressure and I wanted to not get into that zone. I warmed up for the event like I usually do. After the first throw (81.63m) I felt pretty normal. The second (82m) and third (82.57) throws crossed the 82m mark,” the 2017 Asian champion said.

“Before the fourth throw I checked with the officials if the event was certified by the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) and when they said it was, I decided to give it my best shot,” Neeraj added.

“The Olympic qualifying mark is 85m and my aim was to go beyond that as I was not feeling any pain in my elbow. As the spear (javelin) left my hand I knew it would go beyond the 85m mark and when the sign read 87.86m (.14m short of his personal best), I was elated. All my hard work paid off,” the Panipat-born athlete said.

Now, that he has made the Olympics cut, what’s next? “I no longer have the burden of earning an Olympic quota for India, I have it now. I can channel my mind to train for the Olympics without any distractions. This is just the first step. I will have to train a lot harder and remain injury free running upto the Olympics. That’s the main idea. There are a couple of big events before the Olympics but my main aim is to do well at the Olympics,” the 22-year-old said.

Now, that Neeraj is back to his best, does he have the magical 90m mark at the back of his mind? “Crossing the 90m mark at the moment will be a tough ask. I am not going to train differently to cross the 90m mark. I am going to keep it simple. All I can say is that I will train as hard as I have to for the Olympic medal,” Neeraj concluded.