Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra will be in action in India after three years. The 26-year-old confirmed his participation in the National Federation Cup, scheduled to be held from May 12 to 15 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
Before the Federation Cup, the World Championships, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games Champion is set to take part at the Doha Diamond League meet on May 10. He will compete in the men’s javelin throw event in Doha along with compatriot Kishore Jena.
"As per entries @Neeraj_chopra1 and Kishore Kumar Jena will compete in domestic competition starting May 12 in Bhubaneshwar," the Athletics Federation of India tweeted.
'I want to be in best possible shape before Paris Olympics'
Earlier, Neeraj had spoken about his goals for the season.
"I want to be in best possible shape before Paris Olympics. My training sessions have gone off really well so far. I always lay stress on fitness along with strength and technique. This is the best I have felt in a long time but I must add that training and competition are not the same. When you wear the India jersey, the feeling is different, the josh (energy) is unbelievable," Neeraj told SAI Media.
'What matters to me is staying 100 per cent fit'
Once again, the focus will be on whether Neeraj will be able to breach the 90-meter mark. In the Stockholm Diamond League, he got close to the record after he threw 89.94m. When questioned about the elusive 90-meter milestone, he answered that distance doesn’t matter to him. He said that he wants to be 100 per cent fit.
"What matters to me is staying 100 per cent fit, being consistent during the season and delivering on the day that matters. I think there are mistakes to fix and looking at the increasing competition all around, one has to keep improving. The road will close if you think you have done it all," he said.
He clinched a historic gold in the Tokyo Olympics and became the Diamond League champion in 2022 and the World champion in 2023. He also defended the Asian Games gold in China. With this, he also won three individual legs of the Diamond League and bagged a silver in the 2022 World Championships.
"I have won medals in two World Championships, threw my personal best (89.94 metres at Stockholm), won a dream Diamond League title and even defended my gold at the Asian Games. All in all, I have been in great space and want to carry forward that momentum from May onwards,” Neeraj concluded.
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