Neeraj Chopra has this undefinable, unmistakable ease around him that makes you question the very nature of being ‘cool.’ He shifts our collective sense of that word. The tune, melody that plays around him is assuring. Tranquillity cloaks him. It’s a quiet charm, an effortless magnetism that pulls everyone into his orbit. Wheeling in a small suitcase, clad in the bright blue India colours, he takes a lifetime to walk up to the media zone.
Everyone wants a word – a quote, a byte, a shot. Chopra is not in a hurry. Even if he is, he doesn’t show it. He radiates openness, a willingness to give time, however brief that might be. Media persons, Germans, British, Norwegians, Jamaicans, approach knowing he will smile back, answer, make you feel important. The rest, a majority, do it. But rarely, after a qualifying contest. Chopra has walked into his third consecutive World Championship final. All it took was one throw. It’s no privilege to be done in one or three. The important bit is to be in the 12 for the final.
Neeraj Chopra at the World Atheltics Championships: When and where to watch javelin final
At the throwing arena when he came in with Sachin Yadav, the second Indian in Group A, he settled in on the bench, took his time changing. Behind the arena, sat a legend Jan Zelezny, now his coach. Zelezny holds the world record at 98.48m; plus, a three-time Olympic and World Champion.
Chopra knows the drill. Now a muscle memory. The changing of the shoes, tying of the head band, small ticks, and nicks. Two-three runs in the throwing zone, first without the javelin and then a couple of throws with the javelin. To kill the early tension and calm himself, he walks off in the opposite direction. Wheel back. Chopra was scheduled to throw first. Before that, he had a word with Zelezny, leaning over the moat, both trying to hear each other over the announcements. Chopra’s run in is smooth. No haste. The score board flashes 84.85m. Job done. A ripple of applause passed through the stadium. The automatic qualifying mark is 84.50 or the best 12 qualify for the final.
“I am feeling good,” he says. “Distance-wise it is not that good, but distance does not matter here. The best thing is that we crossed the automatic qualifying mark in the first throw. And this is also the first time that the final is the next day. I tried to do my best in the first throw itself. I wanted to reach the room early, recover, and give my best in the final.”
Most of the questions have centred around the weather – the heat and more so the humidity. During the qualifying, humidity inside the stadium reached 80 percent plus with temperatures in the afternoon hovering around 34 degrees. Chopra takes it in his stride. It’s part of the job. You have to adjust. Training for him was normal.
“No, it was normal training because the weather in Tokyo is completely different,” he explains. “I played in Zurich in the last competition and then came here from Europe, so there was a complete change. We came 10 days before, so jet lag takes 3–4 days to settle, and we are Indians, we are used to the heat, so there is no problem.”
Chopra perplexes a lot of people. He is not here to spin a narrative on climate change and how it might affect his throwing prowess. He, in a way, embraces the situation. Even on the coach change after the Paris Olympics where he finished with a silver. Usually, a silver would be celebrated across the country, but in Chopra’s case, many Indians were crestfallen. More so because the gold was won by Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who, finally, stepped out of the shadows, to claim his place in javelin and Olympic history. Nadeem’s monstrous 92.97 decimated the opposition and stopped Chopra from retaining his 2020 Olympic gold medal.
Now with a legend like Zelezny, the stakes are higher. It takes time to adjust to a new coach though one can attribute Chopra’s first 90 plus throw, which came at the Diamond League in Doha to Zelezny or to the fact that he was in his corner. Consistency has been Chopra’s hallmark. If he tried his hand at darts, he would be in and around the bullseye consistently. In Tokyo, he is trying to balance that one big throw with the technical inputs. He won’t drown you in all that technical jargon which one bets must be coming to him from all devices and spread sheets from his team and coach.
“Definitely many things are different – training is different, technique is different. The first competition in Doha was very good. I crossed 90 meters. But after that, consistency hasn’t been good. This is the last competition. So, we aim to prepare well and give our best in the final. We need to apply the technique we practice with the coach and focus on giving our maximum. The main target is to have a good throw. Techniques we will see later.”
More than the temperature affecting the javelin throwers, it’s the effect on aerodynamics that could decide the distances in the final. Air density decreases with increased humidity, and this less dense air reduces air resistance (drag) on a javelin, allowing it to travel further. Humid conditions, less ideal, for endurance events, can actually benefit javelin throwers. Czechia’s bronze medal winner at the 2023 World Championships, Jakub Vadlejch, however, believes that the final will see distances dropped. “I don’t see any of us hitting big distances,” he replied while answering a question on what is the distance that might be a winning one. “The conditions are not conducive to big throws.”
Chopra is up for a hat-trick of World Championship medals – 2022 silver in Eugene, gold in 2023 Budapest. Does he feel the pressure? Chopra’s answer throws you into a quandary. He feels his body has not been responding the way it should. Yet, he promises a good final.
“I can’t say pressure,” he explains. “But what I want from myself, from my body, I have felt very little this season. I did a good throw in Doha. Lot of things are new. There is no training. There is no technique. But I think I will do a good throw in the final. Because the World Championship is a big platform. And whenever there is a pressure moment, I feel good. I feel that I can do well. So, I am not putting much pressure on myself. But my target is that it is the final competition of the year. So, I have to give my best. And just like you talked about the hat trick. We have worked hard for that. And we have come here for that. So, I have to try to give my best.”
It played out differently for Praveen Chithravel who broke down when the triple jump final slipped from his grasp. Praveen finished 15th with a best jump of 16.74m. The season had promised much. At the Indian Open Jumps, he had crossed the 17m mark and then matched his personal best of 17.37m at the Federation Cup. A silver at the Asian Championships followed. “I was in good shape this season. Everyone supports meBut I keep losing. I keep losing,” said an extremely emotional Chithravel.
It’s not a diminishing of skills. It’s the expectation that Chithravel had from himself. It applies to every athlete. Some revel in it. Some succumb to it. A few like Animesh Kujur understands the stage and that it takes a while to readjust timings and be prepared. After finishing 9th in his heats with a time of 20.77, Kujur, whose personal best is 20.32 said, “This was a learning experience, and I am already looking forward to the next season.”
Performances go beyond mere distances and timings. It’s how you adapt to pressure, irrespective of the competition. Some like Neeraj Chopra, in high-pressure moments, become a supernova.
Come evening at Tokyo’s National Stadium, the throwers may rediscover their best, the big-stage players certain to strut and preen. Can the final this evening give a sense of redemption to Chopra after Paris? It is not easy to find the line between doubt and confidence, pride, and arrogance. In the end, for Chopra and his ilk of stars, it’s better to be good enough, often enough, to win.
– Ends