With the stadium cheering and clapping, the Olympic golden boy Neeraj Chopra ran with his long hair flowing in the hair, letting out a similar cry as of Tokyo Olympics and releasing his javelin, and just like his throw in Tokyo lifting his both hands to celebrate. Like before he already knew he had shattered his own as well as National Record with a throw of 89.30m and settled for the silver medal at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland.
When he let the javelin fly on a humid Tokyo evening 10 months ago last year, Neeraj Chopra was convinced the throw won him the Olympic gold. His previous national record was 88.07m at the Indian Grand Prix 3 in Patiala last year. This time it was a new National Record indeed.
The Paavo Nurmi Games hold a great significance in the Javelin calendar, with the first edition of this tournament dating back to 1957. This tournament was named after Finnish athlete Paavu Nurmi.
25-year-old Finland’s Oliver Helander, who has a personal best of 88.02m and season’s best of 80.36m, was the surprise gold winner with a best throw of 89.83m which he produced in his second attempt.
24-year-old Chopra opened with an impressive 86.92m before sending the spear to 89.30m but his next three attempts were fouls while he came up with 85.85m in his sixth and final throw. He secured second position with 89.30m.
Reigning world champion Grenada’s Anderson Peters, with his world leading monster throw of 93.07m while winning gold in the Doha Diamond League last month, was third with a best effort of 86.60m.
Chopra’s rival and friend Germany’s Johannes Vetter, who has a maximum number of 90m plus throws among the active javelin throwers, was set to take part in the Paavo Nurmi Games but had withdrawn.
For months after the Tokyo Olympics held last year, the 24-year-old was away from the sport attending felicitation functions, shooting commercials and gracing talk shows before he could return to the place where he’s most comfortable. He returned to the sport only in November, when he travelled to the Chula Vista training centre in the USA. Chopra reduced up to 14kg to get back to competitive shape and has been away from India since the start of the year to prepare for upcoming competitions. The competition in Turku, in different ways, was a perfect precursor to the World Championships.
“I am pleased with my performance. It was my first event of this season, so I am happy to have started the season on a high note. My performance here has boosted my confidence significantly”, the 24-year-old golden boy told when he was asked about his performance.
Further adding Chopra said “Going forward I am looking to work on my technique, my throws, and overall performance. I am in a happy place at the moment and I just want to do well in the upcoming events.”
