Neeraj Chopra pulls out of Lucerne meet to manage workload ahead of Tokyo 2020
Neeraj Chopra has competed in three events in June, winning gold medals in two javelin events.
Tokyo-bound Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has pulled out of the Spitzen Leichtathletik in Lucerne, Switzerland on Tuesday.
Neeraj Chopra has withdrawn his name from the athletics meet as a precautionary measure and not due to any injury, according to Sportstar. The Indian athlete wants to remain well-rested before the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
The 23-year-old from Panipat had moved base to Europe in May to prepare for Tokyo 2020 and has competed in three tournaments in June, winning top honours in two.
Neeraj Chopra began his international season by winning the gold medal in Lisbon, with a throw of 83.18 and continued the winning streak with another title at the Folksam Grand Prix in Karlstad, Sweden, with an 80.96 attempt.
In his last competition on Saturday, the ace javelin thrower was up against world No. 1 and Olympic favourite Johannes Vetter at the Kuortane Games in Finland.
Neeraj Chopra settled for bronze with his best throw of 86.79m while Germany’s Johannes Vetter bagged the gold with an effort of 93.59m. Keshorn Walcott, the 2012 London Games champion, clinched the silver medal with 89.12m.
The reigning Commonwealth Games champion Neeraj Chopra will most likely go up against Johannes Vetter in two weeks at the Diamond League in Gateshead before heading to Tokyo.