Neeraj Chopra, India's ‘golden boy’, is determined to surpass his own record and clinch another gold medal at the upcoming Paris Olympics in 2024, with nearly six months remaining. The reigning champion recently took a trip to Switzerland for consultation and leisure, where he had the opportunity to meet the legendary tennis player, Roger Federer. Their photograph created a buzz on social media. While Chopra is focused on defending his gold medal in Paris, he also shared some insights during his visit.
“I felt very happy to meet and talk to him. I asked him how to prolong his career. He is a fantastic player but after meeting him, I came to know what a wonderful person he is. He told me to focus on one tournament in mind and prepare accordingly. He did the same to prepare for big events and avoided injury during his career. Getting advice from an athlete like him is a big thing for me,” Neeraj who is the friendship ambassador for Swiss Tourism told Sports Tak in an exclusive interaction.
While Neeraj is now injury-free, it wasn’t the case last year when he had to pick and choose tournaments. However, he did not lose sight of his goal to win the World Championship.
“I was struggling with injuries but didn't think about taking the decision to opt out of two to three competitions. I was supposed to participate but felt discomfort while training. I talked to the team right away and took the decision. The most important was the World Championship and saved myself for the big event. It was followed by rehab. All things went my way and the wait for a World Championship gold came to an end,” the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist said.
Currently, Neeraj’s focus is not to make changes but to work towards improvements. His main goal is to ensure that he remains injury-free.
“There is no need to change but we are working on improvements. My blocking leg needs strengthening. I have to work on my flexibility as well. Along with these, work has to be done on small muscles so that injuries do not occur during competition.” The 26-year-old said.
Neeraj is set to begin his training. Meanwhile, he is not feeling the pressure under the weight of expectations but wants to use it as motivation. He aims to not just successfully defend the gold medal but is willing to put in the extra yard and better his previous records in the Paris Olympics.
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