Gold Coast CGW | Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra aims to cross past his personal best
With the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games set to start on April 4, Neeraj Chopra is aiming for a medal and also wants to beat his personal best of 86.48 meters in the javelin throw event. Last year he had an 85.63m long throw at Patiala and also won a gold at the Asian Championships in Bhubaneshwar.
India’s medal prospect in the javelin throw event, Neeraj Chopra believes that he can hit a top gear and win a medal by beating his personal best at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. He had been training in Germany for three months under coach Werner Daniels and believes his training will benefit him in the upcoming games.
"After I set the junior world record in 2016, I could not improve upon my personal best in 2017. My target this year to consistently throw above 85m mark and do better than my personal best. I feel I can do that at Gold Coast and win a medal for my country. That will be my first medal in a big multi-sporting event," said Chopra reported PTI.
"This year is an important one for me. There are these CWG and Asian Games and then I will take part in some Diamond League series and other international events also," added the 20-year-old.
"It was more about strength training, strength building in Offenburg and I feel I have achieved with what I have set out before the German stint. I have improved my core strength and I feel I am stronger than before," said the Indian on being asked his three-month training stint in Germany.
During his training in Germany, the youngster won a silver medal in an event in Offenberg. He came second best to world champion Johannes Vetter of Germany as his throw could hit 82.80m mark.
"Vetter also trains at the same facility at Offenburg though our training timings are different. I met him on a few occasions but did not interact much," said the 2016 junior champion.
Chopra has been training under Germany’s Uwe Hohn for the past 15 days at the NIS in Patiala. Hohn is the only player in the history of Javelin throw to cross a 100m mark and Chopra feels that it would be beneficial for him.
"I am with Hohn for around 15 days or so and so it is initial days with him. He has been watching me during training but not much more than that. I have been training with the way I had done in Germany.Let's see how we work from now on. I want to do well in the Federation Cup and win a medal in the CWG. The competition among the trainees at the NIS is getting better with more people touching 80m, it's good for all of us," said a confident Chopra.
Last year the Indian javelin thrower had a throw that was 85.65m long in Patiala. To go with that, the athlete also won a gold medal in the Asian Games in Bhubaneswar but finished fifth in one of the three Diamond League Series events he participated in.