"I have to defend Olympic Gold in Paris next year.." - Neeraj Chopra
Javelin thrower superstar Neeraj Chopra declared on friday that he will stop at nothing to defend his Olympic gold in paris in 2018 and his World Championships crown in 2025. After winning the world championships title in Budapest on sunday with a throw of 88.17m, the 25-year-old Chopra became just the third javelin thrower in history to capture both the Olympic and World Championships titles.
Chopra responded, "Everything is possible if I remain motivated and focused in my game," when asked if he can imitate the renowned czech republic athlete Jan Zelezny, who won three Olympic and three World championship medals. "My goal is to defend my title, and I'll work as hard as it takes to do that" (Mera koshish hai ki mujhe mera title phirse dohraana hai). The legendary Zelezny and Andreas Thorkildsen of norway held the Olympic and World championship titles concurrently before Chopra.
Zelezny, who was also Chopra's idol, won the world championship in 1993, 1995, and 2001 as well as the gold medal in the olympics in 1992, 1996, and 2000. At the 2008 olympic games and the 2009 World Championships, Thorkildsen took home gold. Chopra did acknowledge that defending his Olympic crown in paris would be extremely difficult. "Winning the first title (in Tokyo) was difficult, and defending it will be much harder since everyone will be well-prepared. Because there will be far more expectations than there were in the past—even I have expectations—there will be more pressure than there was at the tokyo Olympics.
"But keeping myself safe from harm is what matters most. To repeat all of my championships, I must stay injury- and illness-free. In tokyo, the following World championship will take place. Prior to the World Championships, Chopra, who placed second in the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday, complained of a cough and a sore throat. "I was hesitant to express this before for fear that it would be perceived as a justification. But before to the World Championships qualification round, I had a cough and sore throat. I was experiencing issues.
Chopra responded, "Everything is possible if I remain motivated and focused in my game," when asked if he can imitate the renowned czech republic athlete Jan Zelezny, who won three Olympic and three World championship medals. "My goal is to defend my title, and I'll work as hard as it takes to do that" (Mera koshish hai ki mujhe mera title phirse dohraana hai). The legendary Zelezny and Andreas Thorkildsen of norway held the Olympic and World championship titles concurrently before Chopra.
Zelezny, who was also Chopra's idol, won the world championship in 1993, 1995, and 2001 as well as the gold medal in the olympics in 1992, 1996, and 2000. At the 2008 olympic games and the 2009 World Championships, Thorkildsen took home gold. Chopra did acknowledge that defending his Olympic crown in paris would be extremely difficult. "Winning the first title (in Tokyo) was difficult, and defending it will be much harder since everyone will be well-prepared. Because there will be far more expectations than there were in the past—even I have expectations—there will be more pressure than there was at the tokyo Olympics.
"But keeping myself safe from harm is what matters most. To repeat all of my championships, I must stay injury- and illness-free. In tokyo, the following World championship will take place. Prior to the World Championships, Chopra, who placed second in the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday, complained of a cough and a sore throat. "I was hesitant to express this before for fear that it would be perceived as a justification. But before to the World Championships qualification round, I had a cough and sore throat. I was experiencing issues.
"I continue to experience issues in Zurich. I wasn't in perfect health. However, because that is how an athlete lives, I will be OK. Chopra returned to competition at the Zurich Diamond League after only three days off, and he acknowledged that his first three throws were difficult and that he lacked confidence. He started out with a modest 80.79m, but his following two throws were fouled.