After five lost medal opportunities, every sports fan in India has their hopes pinned on Tokyo 2020 javelin winner, Neeraj Chopra, to come up with a scintillating performance, and defend his title at Paris Olympics. Now, let’s face it, he is major contender for a medal, in certain ways a sure shot medalist, but somehow it seems like it might not be a gold, after all.
The Indian contingent — despite performing so well, has been robbed off a few medals. Boxer Nishant Dev was handed a harsh decision against the Mexican opponent, that would have assured him a bronze. Similarly, Lovlina and Nikhat Zareen also lost their bouts that could have fetched them medals. Manu Bhaker came tantalisingly close to clinching her third medal, Lakshya Sen finished fourth, so did mixed skeet team of Anant Jeet Singh Naruka & Maheshwari Chauhan, and Arjun Babuta in men’s 10m air rifle..Phew! The list goes on. The luck hasn’t been on our side, and with Neeraj Chopra as well, that could be the case too.
What to Expect From Neeraj Chopra at Paris Olympics
Till now, a lot has gone wrong for the Indian athletes, and it could go wrong in Neeraj’s event as well, on August 7. But if we keep the luck factor out of the equation for a moment, unfortunately, on the basis of current form, the 26-year-old isn’t the favorite. The field is quite strong and all the athletes have come on the back of some strong performances.
There is German Max Dehning who has crossed 90m this year, followed by Jakub Vedlejch, and Julian Weber, who have all achieved greater distances than Neeraj this year. The Indian has a best of 88.36m in 2024. The next nine best in the world have thrown distances over 85m.
So that goes on to show that Neeraj will have stiff competition from there as well. When it comes to the Personal bests as well, he isn’t in top 3 as well — out of all the throwers at the Paris Olympics. It’s Anderson Peters at 93.07m, Julius Yego at 92.72m and Jakub at 90.88m. There are other three over 90m as well, including Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem.
Once again, no one is suggesting that Neeraj Chopra won’t win a medal, but current form, and his alleged adductor injury might play a crucial role in him getting another gold.
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