“I feel I have not got to my peak yet” - Neeraj Chopra feels his best throw is yet to come
Reigning Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has stated that he is yet to reach his peak. He added that his throw eight years back in 2016 remains the only throw that has satisfied him in his career so far.
During an interaction with former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik on JioCinema's 'Get Set Gold,' Neeraj Chopra got candid and shared his off-track interests, hobbies, favorite movies, and a few other important aspects of his game.
Neeraj emphasized how his throw in the World U20 Championships 2016, is the only throw he has been satisfied with. Notably, he covered a distance of 86.48m with his throw in that particular event in 2016.
"To date, I am only satisfied with one throw of mine, which was 86.48m in the World Under-20 Championships 2016. That was one throw where I felt it was a special, unique one, but I have not been satisfied with any throw since. I feel I have not got to my peak yet; I have won gold and won a lot of competitions, but I still believe I have not reached my best and I am not satisfied with my throw yet," said Neeraj.
Neeraj Chopra reveals his favorite movies
The 2023 World Champion later revealed his hobbies, including a shopping habit that led to an unexpected overseas purchase. Neeraj Chopra also disclosed how he spent his time during the COVID-19 lockdown, listing his favorite movies.
"During the lockdown, I watched movies with the best IMDb ratings. So, there was The Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, A Beautiful Mind, and The Pianist. I recently watched a movie, Society of the Snow. I would like to tell everyone to watch it. It makes me feel like our lives are much better," he stated in the same interaction.
Interestingly, Chopra is one of the best javelin throwers as the reigning Olympic (Tokyo 2020) and World Champion (Budapest 2023). Moreover, he secured the silver medal at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene. Notably, he also bagged the Asian Games Gold medal twice in 2018 and 2022.
Most recently, Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal at the Paavo Nurmi Games 2024 athletics meet in Turku, Finland on June 18, logging his best throw of the night at 85.97m.
Earlier, Chopra took part at the Federation Cup athletics meet in Bhubaneswar in May and grabbed the gold medal in his first competitive outing in India since 2021. He threw a distance of 82.27m to move past Manu DP at the Kalinga Stadium in Odisha.