Back to training, Neeraj Chopra eyes Diamond League to end season

Olympic silver medallist Neeraj Chopra reflects on his performance, injury, and future goals in athletics.

Last time Neeraj Chopra won an Olympic medal, he spent months being felicitated and touring the country, resulting in a substantial weight gain that he admitted later took him a while to get rid off. This time around, the lessons post Tokyo and the desire to reclaim his top spot after silver at Paris has propelled him straight back to business.

The 26-year old is back to training at his base at Magglingen, Switzerland with coach Klaus Bartonietz and physio Ishaan Marwaha and is hopeful of participating in the next three Diamond League events including the Finals in Brussels.

“After last Olympics we realised that we should continue our season like everyone else and not return to India immediately. Other athletes do not stop training till the season ends. We had earlier planned to participate in Zurich (September 5) and then Brussels (September 13-14) but luckily we took care to manage the groin injury at Paris and it did not aggravate.

“I am very thankful to Ishaan for being with me all these years (since 2017) and helping me push through all the tough times, whether it was surgery or rehab or recovery or injury management, including Paris and after. So now I might participate at the Lausanne DL also (August 22). Only one month is left for the season to end so any final decision regarding surgery or otherwise will be taken after discussing with doctors post that only,” Chopra explained in a virtual interaction on Saturday (August 17, 2024) facilitated by JSW Sports.

While the country celebrates his winning a medal in successive Olympics, Chopra himself is not satisfied with a silver. Although he insisted he was happy with any colour — “every win must be accepted gracefully” — the disappointment of missing the top spot was clearly evident. “Gold is gold but medals cannot be compared because conditions and circumstances also matter a lot. But winning gold means you get to hear the national anthem, that I missed this time,” he candidly admitted.

That hasn’t reduced interest in his personal life but Chopra has matured enough to understand it was part of the stardom. “I have gradually got used to it over the years. Within limits, everything is ok but sometimes, when things are blown out of proportion or rumours that are not true spread, then it gets a bit too much. But personally I try to stay focused on my training,” he shrugged. 

Asked about his next target, Chopra was circumspect. “Honestly, there was no doubt in my mind that Arshad’s throw that day could be bettered. 3-4 metres in javelin is barely anything, it can happen any time. But physically, I could not push myself 100 percent, my leg work on the runway wasn’t perfect. Also, the main point in the run-up is the cross step we take before throwing and that’s where the maximum impact is on the groin, so I wasn’t able to put in too much effort. And my line of throw was also not right – it was going too much inwards instead of going straight.