Neeraj Chopra to shine at Paris Olympics
If 26-year-old Neeraj Chopra wins gold, he will become the 5th player to retain the title in Olympic history. Along with this, he will also become the first Indian to win 2 gold medals in the Olympic individual category.
Neeraj Chopra, who has set many records for Indian athletics, will once again set out to create history with his javelin in his second Olympics. His consistency will be tested once again, as he has been struggling with a problem in the inner thigh muscle (adductor) throughout the season. He will enter the qualification round on Tuesday and the final will be played on August 8.
So far in the Olympic men’s javelin throw event, Eric Lemming (Sweden 1908 and 1912), Jonni Myra (Finland 1920 and 1924), Neeraj’s idol Jan Zelenji (Czech Republic 1992 and 1996), and Andreas T (Norway 2004 and 2008) have been able to retain the title in the javelin throw event at the Olympics.
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Chopra has competed in only three events this year, but the rest of his competitors have also not performed well. In May, Chopra threw 88.36 meters at the Doha Diamond League, while he did not participate in the Ostrava Golden Spike on May 28 as a precaution due to discomfort in the adductor.
Golden boy Neeraj Chopra is fit
He returned to action with a gold at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland in June with a throw of 85.97m. He then skipped the Paris Diamond League on July 7. His coach dismissed concerns about his fitness, saying he has no problem with his adductor now and is training hard.
Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Valesh of the Czech Republic, Julian Weber of Germany, and former world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada will challenge him again.
India’s teenager Jena is also in the race, having qualified for the Asian Games last year with a throw of 87.54m. However, since then he has not even been able to reach 80m.
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