Ace Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra expressed that he is eager to improve on his scintillating performances in the past couple of years as he targets the coveted 90m mark.
Chopra claimed the World Athletics Championships gold this year to add to his medal collection from the Tokyo Olympics, and the Asian Games.
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“I want to say this very clearly that my best is yet to come. I have not felt in a competition for a long time that I have done my best or done near my best,” the 25-year-old said.
“6 cm is left to be achieved. It was 89.94m at the Stockholm Diamond League. I was a bit behind the line at that time. Had I thrown my javelin by moving a bit ahead, it would have been 90m,” Chopra opined.
“I feel this year, my performance was short of my best. Next year, I will do my best throw.”
Chopra, who is known for his incredible flexibility and a strong throwing arm, said that he needs to work on his leg technique, citing leg-blocking as a crucial area of focus.
“My coach always says that it is 60 per cent legs and 40 per cent upper body. So leg work is very important. I have to do a lot of improvement in leg work,” he said.
“I do a lot of things good. My flexibility is quite good, but personally, I feel because of my arm speed, I am doing very well,” he elucidated.
“Next year, I feel I will improve on my technique, and will work more on my strength and flexibility. If everything is all right, 100 per cent fit and my groin is all right, I will do very well in Paris Olympics.”
Despite managing to take the yellow metal in China, Chopra revealed that his technique at the Hangzhou Asian Games was not up to the mark.
“My technique was not going well during the Hangzhou Asian Games. My legwork was not that good, my blocking leg was bending. It was not that great but the important thing was that my arm was giving very good throw, and my arm speed was very good.”
Chopra wasn’t fully fit even during the World Championships as he was yet to completely recover from the groin strain he had picked up back in May.
“The doctor said it is all right and I can start my training without any problem. I was playing with a groin problem during World Championships and Asian Games but I thought there should not be even one per cent doubt in my mind.”
Chopra shed light on his focus on strength training ahead of the Paris Olympics.
“Next year, it would mainly be working on my strength, what type of exercises I need to do and how to do those. I have to pay attention to them and have to keep properly doing them.”
The javelin throw superstar is set to begin preparation for the Olympic event in Paris in a couple of weeks, after which he is set to train in South Africa during winter in India.
“I will have to decide whether it (training place) is at NIS or IIS. The competition calendar for next season, especially for Diamond League has come but we don’t know which legs will have javelin throw. We may know that by December,” he expressed.
“Will discuss with TOPS and send a proposal. During winter in India, I will go to South Africa for training where a lot of good javelin throwers from around the world come. I will do proper strength training for 2-3 months for this groin problem.”
“The off-season will continue for a while, there will be fitness training and then I will start throwing javelin again in January or February, we will know at that time what the result is.”
Chopra also added that he does not intend to take part in too many events before the Paris Games.
“I will take part in selected competitions so that it can fit in the Paris Olympics preparations. As far as which competitions I will take part in next year, I will be able to tell in December,” said Chopra.
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