Javelin superstar Neeraj Chopra says his ‘best is yet to come’

Neeraj Chopra may be the reigning Olympic and world javelin champion but the 25-year-old Indian believes his best performances are yet to come.

Chopra’s personal best is 89.94m, achieved at the Stockholm Diamond League in June 2022. His gold medal-winning throw at Tokyo 2020 measured 87.58m.

This year, Neeraj Chopra clinched India’s first gold medal at the world championships with an 88.17m effort and defended his Asian Games javelin throw title with a season-best of 88.88m. He was also named a Laureus ambassador last month for his outstanding achievements.

Though Chopra has consistently beaten opponents who have heaved the spear beyond 90m and has gold medals in almost every major event, he is yet to cross the coveted 90m mark.

"I want to say this very clearly that my best is yet to come. I have not felt in a competition for a long time that I have done my best or done near my best," Chopra said.

Neeraj Chopra hinted that he could breach the elusive 90-metre mark in the coming year by working on his technique.

"My technique was not going well at the Asian Games. My legwork was not that good and my blocking leg was bending but the important thing was that my arm speed was very good.

"My coach always says that it is 60 percent legs and 40 percent upper body. So legwork is very important. I have to do a lot of improvement in legwork," the javelin superstar said.

Addressing questions about what he’s doing differently in training to maintain his standard in 2024, Neeraj Chopra revealed, "My flexibility is very good. Next year, I feel I will work more on my strength and if my groin is all right, I will do well at the Paris Olympics."

Chopra qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics with his 88.77m effort in the qualifying round of the world championships in Budapest. The automatic qualifying mark was 83.00m. India’s No. 2 javelin thrower Kishore Jena has also qualified for next year’s Olympics.