The elusive 90m mark yet to come, Neeraj Chopra has decided to “leave it to the gods”, but that doesn’t mean that the ace javelin thrower will sit idle.

Fresh from his silver-winning show at the Paris Olympics and despite a nagging groin injury troubling him, Neeraj has confirmed his participation at the upcoming Diamond League meet in Lausanne on August 22.

“... I have finally decided to participate in the Lausanne Diamond League, which begins August 22,” Neeraj said during a virtual interaction.

After a busy couple of days post the Olympic final on August 8, Neeraj started training in Switzerland and is determined to finish the season on a high despite being restricted by the injury.

Following the season-ending Diamond League in Brussels from September 13-14, Neeraj will consult the doctors on his groin injury with surgery being the most likely option.

“The final treatment will be after the season ends. There is just one month left. I will try to take care of it as much as possible and consult the doctors later. I was thinking of just the Zurich Diamond League and the final. But thankfully, the injury is fine. It usually gets worse after competition but this time Ishan (Marwaha, physio) bhai treated me in Paris. I would like to thank him. He has been with me since 2017 and has helped me through injuries and surgeries,” Neeraj said.

The 26-year-old has been managing the injury since winning the gold in the World Championships last year. He needs to finish in the top six of the Diamond League series to qualify for the season finale in Brussels.

“There is one month to go until the season ends. I will go to the doctor in my free time,” he said.

The injury hurdle

Neeraj has been chasing the 90m milestone for years and the wait got longer when his only legal throw of 89.45m got him a silver at the Paris Games. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem clinched gold with a monstrous throw of 92.97m.

Asked about the 90m target, Neeraj said: “I need to leave it to the gods now.

“I just want to prepare well and see where the javelin goes. There has already been talk about 90m, now I feel, just let it be. In Paris, I thought it would happen and it could have happened... Not for once I thought that Arshad’s throw could not be bettered. My mind was ready to push the limits but my body was not.

“Now I will give my 100 per cent in the next two or three events and see what happens,” he said.

“To increase distance I need to be injury free. I know I need to give 100 per cent but because of the injury, I am not able to... My body and mind stops me from making that extra effort.

“What is most important in training are the throwing sessions which I have not been able to do as much as I would like to. If you can’t throw regularly then you are not able
to work on your technique. I need to throw as much as I can. The rest is all fine,” Neeraj explained.