Neeraj Chopra | file photo
Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra, entering the Stockholm Diamond League, is gearing up for his maiden podium finish in his first appearance at the tournament in 4 years on Thursday.
The 24-year-old Chopra was second with a massive national record throw of 89.30m at the Pavo Nurmi Games in Turku, before winning her event at the Cuortane Games with an effort of 86.60m in treacherous conditions.
Finland had strong fields in both events, although the Turku line-up had more stars than Kuorten, where Chopra slipped after an awkward release of his javelin on his third attempt in slippery conditions due to rain.
Luckily, he got on his feet immediately and won the competition without any injuries.
“We started training in December, so it’s a bit late. I needed to get fit again because I had gained weight after the Tokyo Games,” Chopra said during a pre-event press conference.
“I had gained 13kg-14kg, so the plan was to get fit again and so we started the season a little late.
“Our main target this year is the World Championship and the Commonwealth Games as the Asian Games have been postponed,” he said.
This will be Chopra’s first competition at the Diamond League meet after finishing fourth in Zurich in August 2018 with an effort of 85.73m.
The prestigious one-day meet in the Swedish capital will be Chopra’s biggest competition ahead of the World Championships in Eugene, US, next month.
They will also face the toughest field of the season so far, with all three Tokyo Olympic medalists in the fray.
Germany’s Johannes Vetter, who has more than 90 throws among active throwers, is still on edge. She is not fully fit and did not even take part in the German nationals.
After winning gold at Kuorten, where he was previously based, Chopra moved to Uppsala, less than 100 km from Stockholm, and did not participate in any events after the Diamond League and before the 15–24 July World Championships. Will take
The Indian superstar has defeated reigning world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada twice in this month. Peters’ form declined with a throw of 93.07m in the Doha Diamond League match.
After that, he threw 86.60m at the Pavo Nurmi Games and 84.75m at the Cuortane Games for third place.
Peters’ fitness could also be a concern as he did not complete all his throws, recording a best throw of 71.94m at an event in Orimtila, Finland last week.
Olympic silver medalist Jakob Vdlejch of the Czech Republic and compatriot Tokyo Games bronze winner Viteslav Vesli will also be in action. This will be the first time all Tokyo Olympic medalists will be together this season.
Vadledge, who finished sixth at the Pavo Nurmi Games with a best throw of 83.91m, made a comeback from the Cuortaine Games.
The same is the case with Germany’s Julian Weber, who returns to fifth place with 84.02m at the Pavo Nurmi Games.
Finland’s Oliver Hellender, who surprisingly won gold at the Pavo Nurmi Games with a big throw of 89.83m, will also be back in action by skipping the Kuorten Games.
Another Indian, Murali Sreeshankar, was to compete in the long jump, which is not included in the Diamond League programme. It is listed as an additional occurrence.
But he will not be able to visit the Swedish capital as his passport is kept at the US embassy in New Delhi for visa processing for next month’s World Championships. He was to compete with Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Tentoglu Miltiadis of Greece and World Indoor Championships silver medalist Theobias Montler.
He has participated in seven Diamond League meets – three in 2017 and four in 2018 – but has yet to win a medal. He finished two fourths, the second being in Doha in May 2018, where he threw 87.43m.
(Inputs PTI)