‘I won’t lie, there’s a bit of pressure’

Javelin Star Neeraj Chopra Says 90m Is His Target At The World Athletics Meet

- Sabi Hussain

New Delhi: No athlete is immune to pressure. Some get bogged down by the enormity of the occasion, others battle their inner demons to get a hold on the emotions. Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra is from the second category. Even if the Tokyo Games gold medallist wants to remain oblivious to all the talk surrounding his impending 90m-mark throw, the javelin thrower can’t help but feel the pressure deep inside. Still, he has been trying hard to stay unaffected ahead of the World Athletics meet starting Friday in USA’s Oregon. His target is to become the country’s first-ever track and field world champion in the event’s 39-year-long history.

“Some athletes simply accept they are under pressure ahead of an event. Others just shut themselves out. I have never said that I don’t feel the pressure when performing on as big a platform as the World Championships. It’s natural for an athlete to feel it. But the real deal is to have that clarity of thought and stay calm even during a challenging situation. If we start burdening ourselves with the mountain of expectations, it will disturb our rhythm and situational awareness. If you fail to achieve the desired distance in two or three of your javelin throws, your mind and body will become frustrated. The pressure could lead to a situation where you lose control over your technique and start committing mistakes by just using the force in your throws. Javelin is a technical game and you need to keep that command over your technique,” Neeraj told TOI in an exclusive virtual interaction from his training base in Chula Vista.