Neeraj Chopra sets sights on podium finish in next year's World Championships, vows to remain '100 per cent fit'

Javelin star Neeraj Chopra vowed to remain “100 per cent fit” in 2025 and set his sights on a podium finish in next year’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

Chopra returned home on Friday two weeks after ending his 2024 season with a runner-up finish in the Diamond League Final in Brussels.

A month before his exploits in the Belgian capital, Chopra had made history in Paris by becoming the first Indian track and field athlete to win back-to-back Olympic medals, winning silver with a best effort of 89.45 metres .

Next year’s World Championships take place in Tokyo between 13 to 21 September, and that will be his primary focus for now, with the Los Angeles Olympics taking place four years from now.

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Chopra had become only the second Indian after long jumper Anju Bobby George to medal at the World Championships after winning silver in Eugene in 2022 . He would then make history in Budapest the following year by winning gold — the country’s first at the prestigious event.

“The season is over now. The biggest target for next year is the World Championship, and we will begin preparations for that now. The Olympics are always on our minds, but we have four years for that,” Chopra told PTI during a conference on ‘Mission Olympics 2036’ organised by the Sports University of Haryana in Sonepat.

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‘The injury is fine now’

It wasn’t a pain-free season for the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist though. Chopra won silver in the Paris Olympics and finished second in three different Diamond League meets including the final despite dealing with an adductor injury that had been bothering him the entire year .

Chopra also had a fractured left hand in the DL final in Brussels, in which the difference between his best throw and that of Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who took home the crown, was just 1 centimetre.

“It was an injury-plagued year but the injury is fine now, I will be 100 per cent fit for the new season.

“Technical issues are also there but we will work on them. I will look to improve my technique. I do like to train in India but when competitions start, I prefer to train abroad,” Chopra added.

Chopra reflects on Paris Olympics and Paralympics

Looking back at India’s performances in Paris 2024, Chopra rued the plethora of fourth-place finishes that denied India the chance to register a double-digit medal haul at the Olympics.

Chopra, however, chose to look at the positive that was India’s historic Paralympics campaign, with the country winning a staggering 29 medals — 10 more than what they had managed in Tokyo three years ago, their previous highest haul.

“There were a lot of fourth positions. (But) this time, we had a very good performance in the Paralympics and won several medals.

“In the coming times, we expect strong performances in both the Olympics and the Paralympics,” said Chopra.

Besides another podium finish in the Tokyo Worlds, where he will be hoping to collect consecutive gold medals in the prestigious event after missing out on the feat in the Olympics this year, Chopra will also be hoping to breach the 90-metre mark that has eluded him throughout his career.

Chopra’s best throw till date measured 89.94 metres — which remains a national record — during the Stockholm Diamond League meet in 2022.

The 26-year-old armyman also registered three 89-metre throws this year, during the Paris Olympics qualifying round as well as the final, and in the Lausanne Diamond League meet later in August.