NEW DELHI: India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra returned to the competition with a bang and improved his own national record by one centimeter with a throw of 88.07 meters at the Indian Grand Prix 3 in Patiala on Friday. His previous record at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta was 88.06 m.
Shivpal Singh from Uttar Pradesh, another Olympic javelin thrower, came second with a best throw of 81.63 m, while Sahil Silwal, who represents Haryana, came third with a best throw of 80.65 m. This is the first time three Indian javelin throwers have crossed the 80 meter mark in the same competition.
#NeerajChopra The record throw in pictures 88.07mNew National RecordPrevious Record- Neeraj Chopra 88.06m (Asian Ga… https://t.co/aBP7pX9Hiu
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Neeraj started with an effort of 50 feet before hitting two fouls. After a fourth throw of 83.36 m, the 23-year-old sent the javelin to 88.07 m. His last throw was 82.24 m.
“Hawa ki problem chal rahi thi, par body ne accha answer kiya (a cross wind was blowing and that caused problems for me, but my body responded really well),” Neeraj told TOI during a media interaction. “With some of the throws I had the feeling that I really gave it my all, but the result did not reflect my efforts. The throw that set the national record was all about the right technique. My attempt was to be technically flawless. It felt very smooth. ”
This was Neeraj’s first competitive tournament since booking his berth for the Tokyo Olympics with a 87.86m throw at an event in South Africa last January.
“I haven’t been in the competition for a long time. I sustained an injury in 2019. Almost 8-9 months later, I returned to work in South Africa. Then the blocking happened. This tournament is also after a break of 13-14 months. So it was a little difficult. But I kept a high level of fitness throughout the curfew and afterwards. That was good for me, ”said Neeraj.
“In the run-up to the Olympic Games, I hope that I can take part in more and more competitions.”
