Tokyo Olympics 2020: Neeraj Chopra cuts out distractions to fly into javelin throw final

Tokyo: ‘Abhi main cheez toh baaki hai’ While Olympics challenges of other contenders like Anderson Peter, Keshorn Walcott, Bernhard Seifert, Marcin Krukowski, and Julius Yego wilted under the heat and humidity of the unforgiving Tokyo afternoon, India’s Neeraj Chopra breezed past the qualifying stage and into Saturday’s final with an effortless first throw of 86.65m. It was the only throw he needed on Wednesday to make the cut, which was set at 83.50m. While the distance of his throw placed him on top in qualification in terms of distance, the debutant was circumspect about his performance, pointing out that the real competition would be held on Sunday. As a 23-year-old competing at his first Olympics, were there butterflies doing fly-bys in the belly on Wednesday? “Nervousness? Pataa nahi, runway pe aake sab kuch khatam ho jaata hai. Jab aaj runway pe khada hua toh sab theek ho gaya. (When I got on the runway for my first throw, everything else faded into the background),” he told journalists in Tokyo after his qualification. “When I am about to throw now, I don’t think too much about inconsequential things. I don’t obsess over whether I could have a foul throw.”

The only real difficulty Neeraj faced was the overpowering heat, which also exacted a toll on others. And waking up at 5 am in the morning to compete, something he’s not used to doing. Having woken up early, he had to come to the venue nearly two-and-a-half hours ahead of his event. After getting to the Olympic Stadium, he put his shoulder through three or four warm-up throws in the practice ground on the fringes of the main stadium. “The first warm-up throw was not good, but the next one was,” he said. His coach, biomechanics specialist Klaus Bartonitz, told him that he needed to have a better follow-through on his throws. In warm-ups, Bartonitz told Neeraj that his body was going sideways after throwing which was preventing his full power from flowing into his throws. Once that tweak was made in time for the qualification throw, “it flew nicely,” he said. Flew nicely is an understatement. That one throw got him an automatic qualification into the final, which also helped him sidestep the struggles other throwers, including Johannes Vetter, were having at the Olympic Stadium. His philosophy was simple: Throw flatter, so that the javelin doesn’t encounter too much wind resistance that a stadium like Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium produces. Vetter, who has registered seven throws this year that are over 90m, struggled on Wednesday. His first throw was 82.04m and his second was 82.08m. It took him his third and final throw (85.64m) to go past the 83.50m automatic qualification mark. “I was wondering what the problem was when I saw Vetter, who’s a world-class thrower, also struggling a bit,” said Neeraj, even as Vetter readied to go for his third attempt. Neeraj paused to watch Vetter’s third throw on a nearby television screen in the mixed zone. The two had shared small snippets of conversations as they warmed up for their qualification throws. They spoke of the heat (what else!) with the German thrower joking with the Indian that he would be used to the conditions considering how hot it is in India. “I said no I am also coming from Sweden so even I am getting troubled by the heat,” revealed Neeraj. In the coming days, as time ticks down to the showdown on Saturday, he said he will look to cut down on distractions in the Games Village. “I’ve not spoken or met any celebrity as such in the Athletes Village. Our event is at the end and so I need to remain focused. If your event is at the start and you finish it off then you can relax a little but our event is always at the end and so I try not to roam around or meet anyone,” he said. The one distraction that he has taken care of in the lead-up to these Games is getting rid of those long locks that have been his signature look over the past years or so. “I got a haircut because it was too long. It kept falling on my eyes and the weather was so bad as well. I was troubled by this short hair also today in qualification. Longer hair means more sweat. I would focus a lot on my hair and how to manage it,” he said before adding, “I liked my long hair. But it’ll grow back. The Olympics will come again only three years later.”