Indian champion hurt by first defeat to Nadeem in long rivalry. Neeraj Chopra wiped the sweat off his face and stood up. It had been a long day. Midnight was just round the corner. His press conference duties were over. He was spent physically and mentally.
“The TV activities are still there Neeraj, for Indian media,” someone reminded him. He could have said ‘no’ and walked away, but he didn’t. This time, he wanted to tell France’s story again with a different approach. Dressed in Tricolors about his shoulders, he wearily moved towards the L entrance gate; at 2:45 am he addressed issues that he had never spoken of before.
There were two sides of Neeraj Chopra here: one after the qualification race on Tuesday, when he aced it with a throw of 89.34m; relaxed and smiling as he came into the mixed zone; no sign of nervousness or uneasiness; nothing about the groin niggle that had started bothering him again, creeping doubts into his mind.
He added that he had healed well as per schedule and ready to defend his title without any hesitation anymore; it’s like his comfort area now.Well, those changes at Stade de France two days later caught him off-guard.
Even after fouling his first throw he remained cool Then came the bolt He watched as Nadeem Arshad’s javelin floated through space like some vision It kept going on and on When it landed Neeraj looked different-92.97m! How would you rise to that?
“For years my throws have been in between 88-89m range but I know deep down that I can add 3-4mneeraj. There is a big throw inside me,” said Neeraj.
Neeraj tried to find that when his turn to throw came.Having watched the tape back one could see him feeling tensed after Nadeem had thrown it.He was going to try and set up an all-time personal record for himself. 2-3m more than ever.
“I felt good on that second throw. I believe in my arm. Accha jhatka diya (it was a good throw). But at the back of my mind, I was worried about a foul. I always am these days. I was worried about my leg block due to my groin niggle,” he later revealed.
Neeraj managed 89.45m only; still good enough for silver according to how things stand Nevertheless that Nadeem throw had taken over his mind He was nervous, scared and annoyed with himself Neeraj and Nadeem have been throwing on the international circuit together since 2016 Thursday night was the first time that Nadeem out did him That rivalry doesn’t let him sleep nowadays.
Try after try, Neeraj kept changing marks on the runway It didn’t work Finally He couldn’t get another valid throw again His fifth mistake saw him simply shrug his shoulders and pack his bag.
So it turned out to be a silver however for him but still it wasn’t enough.
Congrats to Arshad. I have been competing with him for a long time, starting from 2016 (SAF Games, Guwahati). This is the first time he has ever won over me though. That’s sport for you… we should accept it and move forward to be better,” explained Neeraj.
