World Athletics Championships 2022: Neeraj Chopra targets 90m mark this year, makes THIS big statement

Neeraj Chopra has improved his personal best twice this year – he recorded a 89.30m throw on June 14 at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland before sending his spear to 89.94m.

Source: Twitter

Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra will look to become the first Indian to win a gold at the World Athletics Championships 2022 when he begins his campaign later this week. Anju Bobby George is the sole Indian medallist in World Championships having won bronze and Neeraj will be aiming to better that record.

Not only that, Neeraj Chopra is gunning to cross the 90m mark in javelin throws for the first time in his career and hopefully it will be in Eugene, Oregon this week. The star athlete has improved his personal best twice – he recorded a 89.30m throw on June 14 at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland before sending his spear to 89.94m, just 6cm shy of 90m, in the prestigious Stockholm Diamond League Meeting on June 30.

Ahead of the javelin qualification round of World Athletics Championships 2022, Neeraj said that the aim will be to breach the 90m mark this year. “I don’t usually focus on distance but try to give my 100 per cent in every competition. I try to perform with my whole energy because I believe in giving full effort in every competition. I am very close to 90m, missed it my 6cm at the Diamond League. I am hoping to cross the 90m mark very soon,” Neeraj told the media during a virtual interaction from Eugene on Monday (July 18).

Neeraj Chopra has been signed up as the brand ambassador of athletics performance brand ‘Under Armour’. “This (World Athletics Championships) is the biggest competition of the year for me. Most of the top athletes are here and I believe javelin event is going to be very closely contested,” he added.

India’s javelin star had been training in Turkey in the build up to the World Athletics Championships but kept himself away from the popular Turkish dessert ‘Baklava’ to stay in shape. “Diet plays a big role for every athlete. I love sweets and Baklava too but either we can enjoy these for a few days or train well. I usually take a lot of carbohydrates ahead of the competition while during training we consume more of proteins,” Neeraj said about his training regime.

#TeamIIS at the Worlds! Praveen Chithravel, Neeraj Chopra and Jeswin Aldrin come together for a quick click ahead of the #WorldAthleticsChamps, which begin in Eugene, Oregon, later today. #CraftingVictories pic.twitter.com/tEz8eAeeqC — Inspire Institute of Sport (@IIS_Vijayanagar) July 15, 2022

The 24-year-old revealed that he is enjoying training with top athletes in the world at Eugene. “The main difference here as compared to India is the weather. Apart from that most of the top athletes are here and you get inspired just my spending time with them in the gym. I have met javelin legend Jan Zelezny a couple of times and he is a hero of mine,” he said.

Neeraj Chopra’s Qualification event is set to take place on Friday (July 22), India time. You can watch the livestream of Neeraj’s event on SonyLiv.