If India’s newly-crowned javelin World Champion Neeraj Chopra needs help to get the spectators to cheer for him in Zurich during the Diamond League on Thursday night, help is at hand. Always the showman, Italy’s high jump World Champion Gianmarco Tamberi has promised to do his bit for the Indian star.
“Tomorrow Gianmarco told me that ‘I will cheer for you with public’ and I will also try to cheer for him,” Chopra said at the pre-competition press conference on Wednesday.
Tamberi immediately responded saying he would get the spectators in the Stadion Letzigrund stadium on their feet.
“I spoke with him before in the car and he [Chopra] told me ‘I really want this 90 metres’. I told him, man we are in Zurich, everything is possible because the crowd is just amazing. I will do the crowd… the last two metres, I will do it for you. Concentrate on 89 (metres),” Tamberi said jokingly.
Gianmarco Tamberi 🇮🇹 wants to help Neeraj Chopra 🇮🇳 hit 90 metres in the men’s Javelin in Zurich.
Here’s the plan.😅pic.twitter.com/N5Z7OnMnN0
— Track & Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) August 30, 2023
But back in competition just four days after the World Championship final, Chopra has had little time to recover. Two days of throwing in Budapest, the qualifying round on Friday and the final on Sunday, has left him a little sore.
“I will try my best, I will give my 100 percent. But you know javelin was on the last day at the World Championships. I still feel some pain in my shoulders and back, the main focus is to stay healthy and give 100 percent,” Chopra said.
The 25-year-old is in Zurich to bag points to ensure he qualifies for the Diamond League final in Eugene in mid-September. Chopra is the defending Diamond League champion and is third on the points table (16 pts) after wins in Doha and Lausanne. He missed out on points as he didn’t participate in the Monaco Diamond League in July because he was focussing on recovery from an adductor muscle strain ahead of the World Championships.
Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch and Germany’s Julian Webber have taken part in three Diamond Leagues, including Monaco and are first and second with 21 and 19 points respectively. Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who failed to defend his title in Budapest, trails Chopra by one point in fourth place.
The top eight on points will qualify for the final. However, there is more at stake than the $30,000 prize money given to a Diamond League Champion. The winner can also get a wild card for the next edition of the World Championships.
Though the 90-metre mark is on his mind, Chopra will also be mindful of the stress on his body given that he is the defending Asian Games champion and is scheduled to compete at Hangzhou in early October.
He has had to reduce the number of events he participated in this year because of the adductor muscle strain he suffered in May. Though he has recovered, it still remains a concern.
“Because of my groin injury, I didn’t compete too much this year. From May until the World Championships, I just did five to six throwing sessions. Not even full run up. The World Championships was very challenging for me. I was very prepared from the mind. I was thinking, I have some problem but I changed my technique a little. But the World Championships was hard, not only with body but mind. In my country there are so many people and too much pressure and the World Championship is the only gold medal I didn’t have before. I just have the 90 metre mark now. Hopefully I will throw far in the next competitions,” Chopra said.
Chopra’s long-time physio Ishaan Marwaha had told this paper why the adductor muscle near the groin is vulnerable to injury in Neeraj’s case.
“The adductor muscle (was an area of focus from the start of the season) because of the kind of technique Neeraj has. When he goes to the cross-step movements, his right ankle is a little outwards. What we are trying to correct with the coach is that in the cross step, his ankle is slightly inward so it doesn’t strain the adductor too much. Because if it gets externally rotated, everything comes onto the groin. Trying (to ensure) that he does not drag that right foot through the runway, that is what we are trying to change, but it will take time,” Marwaha said.
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On Wednesday, Chopra also admitted that he thought he could cross the 90-metre barrier in the final in Budapest.
“You can’t compare the qualification round to the final. Because in the qualification round I was very relaxed with my mind and body. Javelin flies well, but in the final there was always too much pressure. All athletes try hard to throw, but javelin is a very technical event. I also thought in the qualification round, I could throw over 90 metres in the final, but that didn’t work. It was a very tough competition.”
Sreeshankar also in fray
Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar didn’t qualify for the final of the World Championships but will return to the jumping pit in Zurich. Sreeshankar, who had the second best jump of the year — after India’s Jeswin Aldrin — didn’t cross eight metres in his three attempts during the qualifying round. Sreeshankar (10 points) has some catching up to do with the top two — Greece’s World Champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (21pts) and Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer (20 pts). Zurich gives Sreeshankar an opportunity to bounce back after his underwhelming World Championships.
indianexpress.com
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