Who can stop India’s Neeraj Chopra from winning an Olympic medal?
An 18-year-old Javelin thrower from India made headlines at the 2016 World Junior Athletics Championships with a throw of 86.48m. In the process, he broke the world junior record and won India's first gold medal at the meet. Finally, the country had a star in the making – in athletics.
Neeraj Chopra had a smooth transition into the senior ranks. He went on to win the Asiad and Commonwealth Games titles in 2018. The next year and a half saw him miss out on important international meets with an elbow injury. Out of competition, Neeraj’s world rankings dipped.
But Neeraj made his intentions clear in his first major competition back from injury. At the ACNE League meeting in Potchefstroom, South Africa he hit a best of 87.86m. This helped him to not only win the competition but also seal a spot in his first Olympics with ease.
Neeraj’s personal best, which is also India's national record, stands at 88.07m. This is only 2.23m shy of Rio 2016's gold medal-winning distance. Germany’s Thomas Rohler (who has pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics 2020) won his country’s first gold medal in the event in 80 years with a throw of 90.30m. Interestingly, Neeraj’s personal best would have landed him a bronze in Rio, just 0.17m shy of the Julius Yego’s silver-medal throw of 88.24m.
Does this mean Neeraj stands an outside chance of winning a medal? Who are the leading athletes who can stop Neeraj from winning his and India's first Olympic medal in athletics?
“There are at least six or seven throwers who consistently hit the 86m-87m mark. Keeping all that in mind, a 91m or 92m throw will be good enough to keep me in medal contention, but in the end it all depends on how everyone performs on the day when it matters the most,” Neeraj Chopra said ahead of Tokyo Olympics 2020.
From the athletes qualified for the Olympics, at least four have breached the 90m-mark, a distance that Neeraj aims to touch at Tokyo 2020. Let's take a look at the athletes that could pose a threat to Neeraj Chopra at the Summer Games.
#1 Johannes Vetter
World no.1 Johannes Vetter, who competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics, remains a hot favorite to win a gold medal, having only recently thrown a giant distance of 97.76m. Breaching the 90m-mark consistently in the past few meets, the German will surely prove to be strong competition. If his form persists in the upcoming Diamond League meets, it is safe to say that Vetter will be aiming for an Olympic gold, while everybody else will simply be competing for the remaining two medals.
#2 Chao-Tsun Cheng
Along with strong European competition, India’s medal hopeful will have a tough opponent in fellow Asian athlete from Chinese Taipei - Chao-Tsun Cheng. Even though Neeraj has beaten this Asian record holder twice before, he still remains strong competition with an overall world ranking of 3.
#3 Andreas Hofmann
Another German athlete who can be a threat to Neeraj Chopra at Tokyo 2020 is world no. 4 Andreas Hofmann. Both Neeraj and Andreas have been junior champions. But even as Andreas' career-best throw is a proud 92.06m, it must be noted that this distance was achieved in 2018, around the time Neeraj threw his first 87m+ and was just about getting started.
#4 Keshorn Walcott
The two-time Olympic medallist from Trinidad and Tobago, Keshorn Walcott, is back in the fray with back-to-back silver medal-winning performances in Finland in June. He recorded his 2021 season-best with an 82.84m throw at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland. Two weeks later, he bettered his previous best with another runner-up performance, covering a distance of 89.12m, behind Vetter’s 93.59m throw but ahead of India's javelin star Neeraj’s 86.79m bronze medal performance.
#5 Julius Yego
Next in line is none other than Mr. YouTube - Julius Yego. The self-made and self-taught Rio 2016 silver medallist from Kenya might stand right in the way of Neeraj Chopra and a potential Olympic medal. Even if his silver medal throw of 88.24m is little more than Neeraj’s national record, his personal best is a throw of 92.72m.
But, here's the catch. It came six years ago at the world championships in Beijing in 2015. For the past two years, his best has stood a little under Neeraj's 88.07m. He'll be a tough competitor nonetheless.
Neeraj recently returned to competitive tournaments and recorded satisfactory performances in three events since June 10. In his first event in Lisbon, Portugal, Neeraj threw a best effort of 83.18m before lowering the mark in his next outing at the Karlstad Grand Prix in Sweden with a throw of 80.96m.
His latest performance won him a bronze medal at the Kuortane Games in Finland behind world no.1 Johannes Vetter and London 2012 gold and Rio 2016 bronze medallist Keshorn Walcott.
Will Neeraj Chopra spring up a surprise at Tokyo 2020 and touch the 90-meter mark?
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