Neeraj Chopra, India's golden boy who bagged a historic gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the Men's Javelin throw, will head into the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as one of the favourites to win a medal for the country at the biggest sporting festival. Despite winning a medal in Diamond League and World Athletics Championships, it is pertinent to note that the Indian star has not yet breached the hallowed 90-metre mark.
When asked if he was looking to get past that magic figure at the Paris Olympics, Chopra said that he might get there before the event itself.
"I will try to breach the 90m mark before that (Paris Olympics). Hopefully, it happens before Paris, everything is going on smoothly, so (people) might not have to wait till the Olympics, it might happen before that. The preparation is good," Chopra said during a virtual interaction from Turkey where he is training as confirmed in a PTI report.
"During the start of the season, the focus was on fitness and strength and no specific javelin training. I think I got a lot of improvement in technique because of that. Besides, the strength and conditioning training in South Africa and Turkey has also gone well," he added.
Self-Confidence Has Gone Up: Neeraj Chopra On What Changed After Tokyo Olympics
Comparing the changes in his mindset and approach between the Tokyo Olympics and the Paris Olympics, Chopra said that he is now more confident in his own ability, having won medals at world events in between. He acknowledged that his self confidence has definitely gone up since bagging the gold at the last Olympic Games.
"After Tokyo, the self-confidence has definitely gone up. Besides, I have also played quite a few events... two world championships, a silver and a gold there, won the Diamond League trophy, made some good throws, then retained the Asian Games gold (in Hangzhou) as well.
"So, the success between Tokyo and Paris has given me a lot of confidence that yes I can do it against strong competitors," the 26-year-old said.