Neeraj Chopra unhappy, says fitness and technique needs work after settling for silver medal at Paris 2024 Olympics

Despite logging the second-best throw of his career to date, Tokyo 2020 champion Neeraj Chopra had to settle for the silver medal in the men’s javelin throw competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Thursday.

Neeraj, despite not looking his best and logging just one valid throw of 89.45m in his six attempts in the final, managed to do just enough to finish behind Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who won the gold medal with an Olympic record-shattering 92.97m attempt.

“It was a good throw but I’m not that happy with my performance today,” Neeraj expressed his disappointment after the event. “My technique and runway was not that good. (I managed) only one throw, the rest I fouled.

“(For my) second throw I believed in myself to think I can also throw that far. But in javelin, if your run is not so good, you can’t throw very far,” added Neeraj, whose medal-winning throw came with his second attempt.

The Indian ace, currently the reigning world and Asian Games champion, also noted that regular injuries in the lead-up to Paris 2024 also impeded his preparations to mount a title defence.

“The last two or three years were not so good for me. I’m always injured. I really tried hard, but I have to work on my injury (staying injury-free) and technique,” the 26-year-old added.

Neeraj’s preparations for Paris 2024 were hampered by issues with his adductor muscles, which forced him to sit out the Ostrava Golden Spike among other meets.

The Indian javelin thrower had said in an earlier interview that adductor issues have been a hindrance to him for the past few years and he intends to consult doctors about the same once his Paris 2024 campaign is over.

“In training, I’m not doing a lot of throws because of my groin (injury). But I will work hard in future,” he revealed.

Neeraj signed off with a congratulatory message for his rival and good friend Arshad Nadeem.

“Today’s competition was really great. Arshad Nadeem threw really well. Congratulations to him and his country,” he said.

Nadeem’s medal was the first individual Olympic gold won by a Pakistani athlete at the Olympics. It was also the first medal for the country since Barcelona 1992.