Neeraj Chopra makes golden comeback on home soil, wins gold medal in Federation Cup with 82.27m throw

India's Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra clinched a gold medal in his comeback to Federation Cup 2024. Chopra did not exert himself and clinched the top spot with his best attempt of 82.27m in Odisha.
 

The Federation Cup 2024 is his first competition on home soil since 2021. DP Manu finished second with an 82.06 m throw. Manu was followed by Uttam Patil with a 78.39m throw. Kishore Jena could not finish in the top three in front of his home crowd. Jena's best attempt was of 75.49m.

In his previous appearance at the same event more than three years ago, he won gold medal with an 87.80m throw. Meanwhile, Chopra is yet to breach the 90m mark. His personal best and national record is 89.94m. He won the Olympic gold medal with an 87.58m throw.

"I felt that I can compete here, and it was nice. However, let's not talk about the throw, it was not up to it," Chopra summed up his performance in the tournament.

Chopra was not happy with the mediocre through and said that he hasn't been able to recover properly as he arrived for the tournament a day before.

"The competition was quite good and weather was warm. From the start, I was thinking if I feel good I will put effort accordingly. I came here after playing in Doha and there was not much recovery time and there was travel also, and I was not feeling that (good)," Chopra said.

"I gave my effort accordingly and did only four throws by passing on the last two throws as I have to compete in Ostrava (Czech Republic on May 28) in Golden Spike competition. There will around 10 days to recover and compete.

"I came to this kind of weather after a long time. The kind of enjoyment in a competition was not there. I was feeling the conditions were not that good, so I decided to stop after the fourth throw." 

Earlier this month, the star javelin thrower fell short of the top spot in the Doha Diamond League. His throw of 88.36m was just two cm short of Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch.
 

MORE ON SPORTS TAK:

'Had I played match against RCB...': Rishabh Pant indirectly blames BCCI's suspension bomb for hampering DC's playoff hopes despite win over LSG

Rajasthan Royals become 2nd team to qualify for IPL 2024's playoffs after DC's 19-run against LSG