Chopra eyes June return in Finland meet
NEW DELHI: Tokyo Olympics javelin gold medallist Neeraj Chopra is set for a high-voltage return to competition at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, on June 14. His muchanticipated comeback, the first since his sizzling performance in Tokyo, will be a showdown with German star Johannes Vetter, world champion Anderson Peters and Julian Weber, who finished fourth at Tokyo.
The organisers of the World Athletics Continental Tour (Gold) event confirmed the starstudded line up on Wednesday. “We can expect a world championship-level competition,” said Arttu Salonen, an official of Paavo Nurmi Games. He said some more big names could also be in fray. Vetter was the odds-on favourite in Tokyo, but failed to qualify for the last set of throws in the final.
“Negotiations are still under way with several international stars and we are also after the Finnish top names with Lassi
Etelätalo leading the way. Since Chopra did not compete after the Tokyo Olympics, there will surely be great tension in the upcoming clash between Vetter and Chopra,” he said.
Undoubtedly, this is the kind of return that will set the tone for a busy year for Chopra, closely followed by the world championships at Eugene, Oregon (July 15-24) and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (July 28-Aug 8). The Asian Games will follow in Hangzhou from September 10. Chopra is defending champion in the Asian and Commonwealth Games and has expressed his desire to win his first medal at the world championships. The close proximity of the big-ticket events means he will have to carefully plan his peaking, which is one of the reasons why he is starting the season late. Earlier, there were reports that he would start his season at the Diamond League meeting in Doha on May 21, but that is unlikely.
Another target Chopra has set for himself this season is to touch the 90m mark. Vetter, the 2017 world champion, hurled the spear past 90m a staggering seven times last year. His 96.29m is the second-best all-time. The German has also not competed this year. He will be raring to come back after his failure to live up to his pre-Olympics hype going into Tokyo, where he finished ninth. Chopra won gold with a throw of 87.58m.
“It is very important to achieve this (90m). Medals are one thing and distance is another. Going beyond 90m will put me among the world’s best throwers. Vetter is there and Anderson Peters (87.31m) is close,” Chopra had said during his off-season training at Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Centre in California.