“The goal is to defend my Olympic gold medal but I have to focus on the competitions before Paris 2024” – Firstpost

India’s only Olympic medalist athlete, Neeraj Chopra, is gearing up to defend his title at the Paris Olympics where he will once again face competition from some of the world’s best javelin throwers who have already crossed the 90m mark. Neeraj’s best throw is 89.94m, achieved during the Stockholm Diamond League 2022. The 26-year-old, however, believes that performing on the crucial day matters the most.

The Olympic champion spoke in an online press conference about the challenge of breaking the 90m mark, defending the Olympic gold medal and his camaraderie with compatriot Kishore Jena, who finished fifth at the World Championships 2023 Athletics Championships and won silver at the 2022 Asian Games.

Excerpts from the press conference

On managing the pressure of defending your Olympic gold medal

It’s there in my mind that I should win the Olympics again. This is why I work so hard. But to avoid putting pressure on myself, I try to focus on the immediate competition I have before the Olympics. It’s time to go to the Olympics. If I can perform before the Olympics, it will put less pressure on me at the Olympics. The goal is to defend my title, but I have to concentrate on all these competitions before the Olympics.

Is he aiming to break the 90 mark at the Olympics?

I will try to cross the 90 m mark before that (Paris Olympics). Hopefully it happens before Paris, everything goes well, so (people) might not have to wait for the Olympics, it could happen before then. The preparation is good.

On the competitions in which he will participate before the Olympics

I will be participating in the Doha Diamond League and the Paavo Nurmi Games next month. I want to compete three or four times before the Olympics. I am still discussing with the coach which competitions I should participate in. I will probably compete in any Diamond League or Continental Gold Series competition. These are high level competitions and I hope to be able to compete against those I might face in the Olympic final.

Facing javelin sensation Max Dehning, who recently became the youngest person to break the 90m barrier

I will compete with Max at the Paavo Nurmi games. I’ve never competed with him before. It went from 79 m to 90 m. It completely skipped the 80 minute page. It will be fun to compete with him. When I competed at the Tokyo Olympics and last year’s World Championships, many athletes were landing throws over 90m. So it’s nothing new to compete against people who have covered this distance.

What matters is what you can launch that day. I’m excited to have the chance to compete with them. The more they compete, the more fun it becomes. When we compete together, the main factor that determines the winner is who handles the situation better that day than the others.

On the difference in mentality between before the Tokyo Olympics and today

After Tokyo, self-confidence definitely increased. In addition, I also participated in quite a few events… two world championships, one silver and one gold there, I won the Diamond League trophy, I achieved good throws, then I also retained the gold at the Asian Games (in Hangzhou). So the success between Tokyo and Paris gave me a lot of confidence that yes, I can do it against strong competitors.

My mind tells me that this is the second Olympics, so this time I am better prepared mentally and physically for Paris. I haven’t done much in terms of mental training, but I know: ‘yes, this is my second Olympics’ and that feeling is there.

On possible technical modifications he could have made to his throw

I’m not making any changes, but I’m making improvements. Also, I haven’t started much technical work yet. During the first months of the offseason, I mainly worked on fitness and injury prevention. If there’s a muscle prone to injury, then I’ve worked on it. I have just started specific javelin training.

On Kishore Jena’s chances

Considering the way he progressed at the World Championships and Asian Games, who knows Kishore might cross the 90m mark before me. 90m mark atka hua hai, mais kabhi na kabhi ho jayega (This 90m mark is not here yet, but one day it will happen).