A year after winning the country’s first-ever World Championships gold in athletics, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will have his first taste of what the big stage looks like, in Paris on Saturday.
The 19-year-old under-20 World champion will be making his Diamond League world series debut that day and in the fray are the planet’s top three javelin throwers, including Germany’s Olympic champion Thomas Rohler, Johannes Vetter and the Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch, last year’s Diamond Trophy winner.
Major events
“From now on, I think Chopra should only do Diamond League or similar events, not the low-level Indian competitions,” said Australian Garry Calvert, who coached the Indian to the under-20 Worlds gold in Poland last year, to The Hindu from Beijing on Wednesday.
“But Paris is not usually a long throwing venue. Some venues produce flat distances. I would like to see him in Ostrava (Czech Republic), it has a real hot field.”
The javelin throw event at the Ostrava Golden Spike meet, the IAAF World Challenge series meet, begins late on Wednesday.
Chopra’s season should be handled carefully before the London Worlds in August, said Calvert, now a national coach in China with nine javelin throwers under his charge.
“From now to the Worlds, I would like to see Chopra doing the Diamond League, the Asian Championships (in Bhubaneswar, from July 6), and one or two more competitions before having two weeks before the Worlds,” said Calvert.
“Last year, I had Chopra compete for three weeks straight and then two weeks of no competition.”
Paris will offer Chopra, currently ranked 14 in the world, plenty of lessons and a lovely lift as he works towards his big goals.
