Indian Paralympics gold medallist Javelin star Devendra Jhajharia said that double Olympics medallist Neeraj Chopra will breach the 90-metre mark in just one or two years. Neeraj recently clinched the silver medal for India in the Paris Olympics. Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem clinched the gold medal by breaking the Olympic record in the Javelin throw.
On Thursday, Chopra once again secured second place in the Lausanne Diamond League, launching his javelin to a distance of 89.49 meters in the final round. Grenada's two-time world champion, Anderson Peters, reigned supreme with a colossal throw of 90.61 meters. Jhajharia, a renowned para-javelin thrower with two Paralympic gold medals in the F46 category, expressed his confidence in Chopra's ability to surpass the 90-meter mark by a significant margin, possibly by 3 to 4 meters, when he eventually achieves this feat.
"If I say in the language of javelin throw, 89-plus has become a barrier for Neeraj currently. I have seen in my sporting career of 20 years, when a barrier is broken it does not break by just a mere metre or so, but by 3 to 4 metres," the 43-year-old Jhajharia told PTI.
"When Neeraj does that, he will not throw just 90-plus, his javelin will go 3-4 metres farther. Please remember my words.
"So, Neeraj will throw 92m to 93m when the barrier is broken. He should do it in one or two years," said Jhajharia, who was elected as Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) president in March.
Jhajharia reckoned that Neeraj's age is in his favour and his best is yet to come. He will be at his peak when he is 28 or 29.
"Age is in his favour, 26 is no age and I am hoping that he will be at his peak when he is 28 or 29. By then, he will do his best.
"He is very disciplined and very dedicated. I have seen that when we trained together in 2022 in Finland," he said.
Neeraj is India's only athlete who clinched a gold medal in athletics in the history of the Olympic games.
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