Two-time Olympic medallist breaks down the technicalities of his throws
Two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra says he goes back to his qualifying throws more often than his final attempts to draw inspiration. It’s because he finds his throws in qualification technically better than what he throws in the heat of the competition. Neeraj recorded his best throw — 90.23m — at the Doha Diamond League last year, but the champion says it was not his best throw technically.
“I can say that technically that throw (90.23m) was not that good. It was fast from the arm. If I could do better with my lower body, I can take the javelin 2-3m farther. I really like my qualification round throws in the Olympics and World Championships because at that time I feel relaxed and I throw really far. But whenever I compete in finals, or maybe in the main competition, I always try really hard, become very aggressive, and then I forget my technique. So I really like to watch my qualification round throws. They are technically better,” said Neeraj at a press conference for the Doha Diamond League.
That’s an honest admission coming from a world-class javelin thrower who has been consistent at the top level for close to five years and has won two medals each at the Olympics and World Championships. He became world champion in 2023.Neeraj is now working with Jaiveer Chaudhary, his coach during his formative years.
“I am working with an Indian coach who was my senior when I started javelin. He has known everything about me for the last 15-16 years. We are not working on anything specific but on my natural technique,” said ace javelin thrower.
Neeraj knows how to adapt to different conditions. The Doha Diamond League is known for producing some big throws. Thomas Röhler achieved a mark of 93.90m in Doha in 2017, and Anderson Peters threw 93.07m in 2022. Neeraj and Julian Weber (91.06m) both crossed the 90m mark for the first time in their careers last year. The windy conditions in Doha help, but not always.
“Sometimes I also throw against the wind, and then it’s hard to even sprint. We need to understand how we can use the wind. I don’t think we can use it that much for javelin, but for runway speed, yes. It helps if we throw a little bit high and the wind pushes the javelin from behind, but if you throw flat then it will not help.”
“The 90m throw here was really amazing, and then Julian also threw farther. I was happy for him. He threw 88m in 2016 in front of me, and it took him a long time to go beyond 90m. So I was happy for him. Both of us broke 90m; we were happy for each other.”
EOM
