India’s disappointing campaign in Paris 2024 seeks solace from Neeraj Chopra in javelin final

Paris: India's Neeraj Chopra during the Men's javelin throw qualification round at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris. (PTI Photo)

India’s underwhelming and soul-crushing Paris 2024 campaign is looking for some sort of redemption from its biggest hope. Minutes before midnight IST on Thursday, Neeraj Chopra will take part in the men’s javelin throw final and look to add to the gold medal he had won in the previous edition of the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.

Having seen six fourth-place finishes already and Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification from women’s wrestling, the country is pinning hopes on the golden boy of Indian athletics. At 26, he has won everything that his discipline can offer and that itself is an unprecedented achievement in the history of Indian sports across disciplines.

It’s well known that on a bad day, Neeraj settles for silver. Even in the qualifying competition in Paris, he topped the charts with a single throw and romped into the final. That throw of 89.34m was his season’s best and well ahead of the 88.63m posted by the second-placed Anderson Peters of Granada. Going by that, the form book and reputation, Neeraj starts as the favourite.

However, the final may just be a different challenge altogether. The average standard in men’s javelin in Paris has been high. Apart from Neeraj, there were four others who made it to the final with their first efforts. There were three more who threw above 86m. Other than Peters, Julian Weber of Germany (87.76) and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem (86.59) will be among Neeraj’s closest competitors. And so will be Czechia’s Jakub Vadlejch (85.63), who finished second in Tokyo.

An Olympic final doesn’t usually have favourites. On their day, anybody can beat anybody. The men’s 100m final in Paris saw that, with a photo finish separating the top two and the sprinter at No. 8 clocking 9.91 seconds — which could have secured a medal in a Diamond League event. The competition is very close, in almost every event.

The good thing is, Neeraj is no stranger to this. A rarest of rare Indian track-and-field athlete who thrives on the biggest stage, he knows what to expect and prepares accordingly. “In the final, everyone has a different mindset. It will be a good competition,” he was quoted as saying in the media. He also said after qualifying that this was just a start, there was a long way to go.

Neeraj has his feet firmly on the ground. Not one to give in to premature expectations, he understands that the job is not done yet. Jan Zelezny of the erstwhile Czech Republic won the javelin gold at the Olympics thrice, from 1992 to 2000. Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen was the winner in 2004 and 2008. Neeraj has a great chance to enter the list of all-time javelin elites.

For India, it will mean a lot more if Neeraj does it again. It’s been a campaign marred with a slew of so-near-yet-so-far stories. From its biggest hope, the country expects nothing less than the best.

In exclusive arrangement with RevSportz