"I think 89 meters will be the gold-medal mark" - Anju Bobby George on what Neeraj Chopra needs to do the double | Paris Olympics 2024
Odd-defier, undisputed pioneer, India's shimmering golden boy Neeraj Chopra will walk into the Paris Olympics 2024 as an out-and-out favorite for his raging javelin to land on the top step.
In Tokyo 2020, 87.58 meters was the magical figure that etched the 26-year-old world-beater's name in eternal sporting history. But former Indian long jumper Anju Bobby George believes Neeraj might have to outdo his previous effort to defend his Olympic crown.
"The 90 meters is the magical mark. There are two who crossed the mark and Jakub Vadlejch from Czech is more consistent, he can also go past 90 meters. But I think 89 meters will be the gold-medal mark and if Neeraj can throw that, he could win it back-to-back," the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal in a World Championships in Athletics said in the Olympics pre-show on JioCinema.
Neeraj Chopra, not just the reigning Olympic champion but also the world champion, has participated in just three events throughout the year and was ranked fourth In the 2024 season’s top list.
"It's a different mindset when he's the hunter, and now he's the hunted" - Viren Rasquinha on the pressure that will weigh on Neeraj Chopra's shoulders
For Neeraj, going into the 2024 Olympic Games, the dynamics are bound for a momentous shift. In Tokyo, he scripted history when none expected, and now when the whole world would be ogling at him to performance, he'll have an enormous weight of an 800-gram javelin and the expectations of a billion.
Former Indian men's hockey team skipper and an Olympian himself, Viren Rasquinha, underlined that returning to the top step is a more daunting task than reaching there the first time.
"It's a different mindset when he's the hunter, and now he's the hunted. One example that instantly comes to mind is PV Sindhu. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she was relatively unknown and then went on to win the silver medal. But the second medal at Tokyo was so much tougher, and she showed excellent temperament to win that Bronze."
"Neeraj will feel that pressure, the second medal is always tougher, but if there's anyone in the Indian contingent who can handle that pressure it is Neeraj Chopra. He's definitely a firm favorite for a medal. What color? You can never know what happens on that day," Rasquinha stated in the Olympics pre-show on JioCinema.
Neeraj Chopra, in only a brief period of three years where he has known success, has instilled into the heart of every countryman that he's a moments man. A man capable of reading the pulse of every great hurdle he's pushed into, and walking out of it unscathed.