Can Neeraj Chopra win a medal at the Paris Olympics 2024?
Neeraj Chopra - the Indian sensation will be in the spotlight during the Paris Olympics 2024. The Indian star will be eyeing to make history for the country by winning the gold for the second consecutive time. It is an opportunity for Neeraj to reach the pinnacle of his career in sports and become an inspiration for young athletes from India and across the globe.
The stakes are high this year but Neeraj is already prepared to face the tough challenge. He created history for India at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 by becoming the first Indian to win a gold among athletes at the Games. He topped the qualifying group with a throw of 86.65 meters. In his second throw, Neeraj reached a distance of 87.58 and wrote his name with golden ink in the history books of the Olympics.
Post his gold medal win, the life of Neeraj Chopra has completely changed. He has been the center of attraction for international media and every media channel is talking about his exceptional performance in recent times. In these years, Neeraj has been part of different competitions including the Diamond League in 2022 and 2023.
Post-Tokyo Olympics 2020, Neeraj Chopra was part of the Diamond League 2022. he clinched gold with a throw of 80.96 meters. This was a sub-par performance by the Indian athlete. His reason for a slight dip in his performance was his tendency to throw higher than he wanted and the unavailability of his own javelin.
In the same year during the World Championship 2022, he won a silver medal. However, the year 2023 was a positive win for Neeraj as he clinched Gold in the World Championship.
His performance in the Diamond League saw another fabulous performance from the Indian athlete. With a throw of 88.67m, Neeraj clinched the top spot in the Diamond League 2023 at Doha. He also reached the first position in men's javelin throw rankings issued by World Athletics.
Primary Challengers for Neeraj Chopra in Paris Olympics 2024
Neeraj Chopra will be defending his gold this year at the Paris Olympics 2024. He will face his old rivals who have been challenging for his title in the last four years. It's a healthy rivalry but a gold medal is enough reason to have that undue pressure to perform.
His biggest over the rivals has been the Czech javelin master Jakub Vadlejch. Jakub's best timing this season has been 88.65 meters and his personal best timing is 90.88 meters. He has been on the podium with Neeraj constantly over the years. In Tokyo 2020, Jakub won Silver and Neeraj clinched gold. Jakub won Gold in the Qatar Diamond League in 2023 by a difference of just 2 cm.
His other rival during the big event will be Germany's Julian Weber, a powerhouse from Germany with a season-best throw of 88.37 meters and a personal best of 89.54 meters.
According to the recent performances by Neeraj, he is expected to do well and we predict Neeraj Chopra to win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024.