Chopra’s Commonwealth blow after silver success
INDIA’S Olympic javelin champion Neeraj Chopra was ruled out of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with an injury on Tuesday (26).
Chopra, 24, picked up the injury during the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, where he won a historic silver medal last weekend.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) did not give details, but after coming second behind Grenada’s Anderson Peters, said he complained about “discomfort” in his thigh.
Chopra was the reigning champion at the Commonwealth Games, which begin on Thursday (28).
“He called me earlier today from the US to convey his inability to take part in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games owing to fitness concerns,” IOA secretary-general Rajeev Mehta said in a statement. “(He) had an MRI on Monday and, based on it, he has been advised a month’s rest by his medical team.”
Chopra made history for his country when he won the javelin at last summer’s Tokyo Games, becoming India’s first Olympic athletics gold medallist.
Speaking after the World Championships in Oregon, in the US, Chopra was quoted as saying: “After the fourth throw I did feel a bit of discomfort in my thigh, I wasn’t able to put in that much effort.
“That was on my mind, but I just wanted to make sure I can throw. So I strapped my thigh.”
Chopra threw farther in Oregon than he did in Tokyo and declared himself “satisfied” with the silver medal, local media reports said.
“The hunger for gold will continue in me,” he said. “But I have to believe we cannot get gold each time.”
Chopra’s injury means that he will no longer be the flag-bearer for the over 200-strong Indian contingent in Birmingham, Adille Sumariwalla, the Athletics Federation of India president said.
“Neeraj has said that since he is not 100 per cent fit to compete at the Commonwealth Games, he would not be the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent in the opening ceremony,” he said.
Chopra, who won gold at the last edition of the Games at the Gold Coast, in 2018, had been in top form this season until the injury struck. He broke his own national record at the Diamond League in Stockholm in June as he registered a personal best throw of 89.94m.
India, the Commonwealth’s most populous country, is not generally known as a sporting powerhouse, except for cricket, but it has regularly performed well at the Games. It finished third in the medals table behind hosts Australia and England at the Gold Coast and was in the top five at the previous four.