India's Neeraj Chopra during the Men's javelin throw qualification round at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Tuesday, August 6, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Paris: India javelin throw star Neeraj Chopra opened up about his injury woes after clinching a silver medal in the Olympics, revealing that he might have to undergo a surgery soon after having pushed himself extremely hard to compete here while battling a constant fear of breaking down.
Chopra was dealing with a nagging adductor niggle (a problem related to muscles in the thigh) in the run up to the Paris Games. But he managed a season's best effort of 89.45m to secure a silver medal, making him the first track-and-field athlete from India to have two Olympic medals, the first being an unprecedented gold in Tokyo.
Chopra finished behind Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who stole the show with an Olympic record-shattering throw of 92.97m to become the first individual Olympic gold-medallist from his country.
"I have a lot on my mind. When I am throwing, 60-70 per cent focus of my is on the injury. I don't want to get injured. Whenever I go for a throw, you will see that my speed is low. I am pushing myself," he said.
"The doctor told me to go for surgery but I didn't have that much time to take that decision before the world championship or after the world championship because it takes a lot of time to prepare for the Olympics," he added, referring to the 2023 world championship where he won gold.
The 26-year-old, despite not being at his best here, became only the third Indian to win back-to-back Olympic medals after PV Sindhu and Sushil Kumar.
"I am still pushing myself," he said with a hint of frustration.
"It's not good in sport, it's not good to push and continue. If you want to run a long career then you have to be fit and healthy but there are competitions where you can't make a decision. Now we will work on this and work on the technique," he added.
Chopra said he will talk to his team and then "take a decision".
He also detailed how the last seven years have been tough for him as far as fitness is concerned.
"I felt this in 2017. After that, I got a lot of treatments. But I will have to take a big decision for this," he said.
"Won't find peace till I get a big throw"
He didn't mention the 90m mark but Chopra said he has potential to achieve bigger throws. Chopra's career-best remains 89.94m which was achieved back in 2022.
"The distance that I had in me in 2016, especially in 2018, when I scored an 88m in the Asian Games, after that, I feel that I still have a lot of throws left. So, until that happens, I won't be able to find peace. And I want to tell you that there is a lot inside," he said without getting into the specifics.
"And I will do it. I will keep my mind ready for the future. I will work on things. I will keep myself fit."
"Haven't been able to throw as well"
Chopra, perhaps for the first time, talked about just how badly the niggle has affected him.
"I am not able to throw from a full runway. I have been throwing for the past year or two. Maximum throwers throw 40-50 in a session. It took me 2-3 weeks to complete a session because there is a fear of injury.
"It is very difficult. I am forcefully pulling it." He also explained that his lower body is as important as the throwing arm in getting the right elevation and speed.
"If the rest of the body doesn't work, it won't help. I can go for a heavy and fast heave but when there is a broken leg, there are a lot of technical things. It is very difficult to throw with just the arm, to put all your power on it.
"It gets wasted if the legs don't work properly. So there are a lot of technical things. I will not go into it, you won't understand." Chopra said he finds it painful to miss competitions because of fitness concerns.
"My coach always says that if you get a good blocking leg and a good groin then the throw will be 2-3-4 meters ahead and then I have to send a message saying, 'Sorry, I have to withdraw'. Personally, I don't like it at all," he said.