Superstar javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Friday said he will do everything under the sun to defend his Olympic title in Paris next year and his World Championships title in 2025.
The 25-year-old Neeraj on Sunday became only the third javelin thrower in history to hold both the Olympic and World Championships crowns after winning the world title in Budapest.
Asked if he can emulate his idol, the legendary Czech Republic athlete Jan Zelezny, who won three Olympics and three World Championships titles, Chopra said: “Everything is possible if I remain motivated and focused.”
“My endeavour would be to defend my title (Mera koshish hai ki mujhe mera title phirse dohraana hai) and whatever hard work I need to do to achieve that, I will do.”
Before Neeraj, the iconic Zelezny and Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway had held the Olympics and World Championships title simultaneously.
Zelezny clinched the Olympics gold in 1992, 1996 and 2000 while winning World Championships title in 1993, 1995 and 2001.
Thorkildsen won gold at the 2008 Olympics and the 2009 World Championships.
Neeraj, however, admitted that it would be a big challenge to defend his Olympic Games gold in Paris.
“It was a big challenge to win the first title (in Tokyo), and it will be a bigger challenge to do (defend) it again because everybody will come prepared. It will be more pressure than Tokyo Olympics because there will be a lot more expectations. Even I will have my expectations.
“But the most important thing is to save myself from injury. I need to remain healthy and injury-free so that I can repeat all my titles.”
Neeraj, who finished second with a modest throw of 85.71 metres in the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday, said he had a cough and sore threat before the World Championships.
“I did not want to say this earlier because people may think it was an excuse. But I had a cough and sore throat before the qualification round. I was having problems. I am still having problem in Zurich. I will be all right, an athlete’s life is like that.
“I had already qualified for the Diamond League final, so I could afford to take it slightly easy here. I am tired, and I did not want to push myself too much and risk injuries. Sometimes it’s important to enjoy the competition too,” he added.
Neeraj was asked if he would invite his Pakistan opponent and good friend, Arshad Nadeem, for lunch or dinner at his home in Haryana. “Yes of course. Why only Arshad, all are welcome. In our culture. it is normal to feed anyone who comes home,” he said. Nadeem finished second to Neeraj in Budapest.
With two key events lined up, Neeraj said he was planning to get the best out of the final segment of his season.
“The Diamond League final is on September 16-17, so I don’t have much time. There will be plenty of travel, and adjusting to time zones is also a challenge. The target is to do well in both competitions.
“The most important thing is to finish the season healthy, so I can start preparation for the next season early.”
Neeraj is yet to breach the 90-metre mark, but his consistency has stood him in good stead in big events. “I’m not very happy with the distance, because I had three 89-metre throws last year. But I’m happy to have won the World Championship gold.”
