Neeraj Chopra believes his best is yet to come with the Olympic gold-medallist making “the best preparation ever” going into this year’s Paris Games.

The Tokyo Olympic javelin champion, aiming for an encore in Paris, is currently sweating it out in South Africa, training under the Sports Authority of India’s TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) funding.

Speaking at an event held in a city hotel, where he joined virtually on Thursday, Neeraj said: “In Paris, the pressure will be different. Already this year, one 19-year-old from Germany (Max Dehning) has crossed the 90-metre mark (hitting 90.2m at the German Winter Throwing Championships in Halle to become the youngest ever to cross the 90m mark), and this has happened even before the start of the season proper.

“This implies there’s set to be a tougher competition this time around in javelin. All the javelin throwers I have met so far are preparing well and I too am training hard. If I’m mentally prepared, I’m sure I will do well.”

The javelin champion said he’s in the phase of his “life’s best preparation” for the Paris Olympics beginning on July 26. “This is my life’s best preparation ever that I have had and will try to do even better. This has brought about some sort of positivity. I also feel I’m yet to have come up wth my best, which I believe I will accomplish this time.

“Besides, by competing with the best, my confidence level too has increased.”

Recalling the Tokyo Games in 2021, Neeraj said the pandemic had created a little bit of tension. “More than pressure, there was a different kind of excitement in Tokyo. But what turned out to be a bit of a problem there was the Covid deaths. So, the tests created a bit of tension before the finals,” he said.