Chopra good but unlikely to beat me, says German rival
RIVALS when they have spears in their hands, German javelin throw superstar Johannes Vetter and Neeraj Chopra are happy being friends when not competing even though the former is quite clear that the Haryana youngster won’t be able to beat him at the Tokyo Olympics.
Former world champion Vetter is the favourite to claim gold, while Chopra is being seen as India’s best bet to end the country’s Olympic medal drought in athletics. “He (Chopra) threw good throws twice this year. Above 86m in Finland. If he is healthy and if he is in the right shape, especially in his technique, he can throw far,” Vetter said. “But he has to fight with me. I am looking to throw over 90m in Tokyo, so it will be tough for him to beat me.”
The duo first met in 2018 at Offenburg in Germany when both trained at the same facility.
Chopra was then on a threemonth stint in Germany under prominent coach Werner Daniels. He finished second behind Vetter in a competition there.
Three years later, the duo met again in Finland during the Kuortane Games in Finland last month and they even travelled together in the same car from Helsinki. “Neeraj is a really friendly person. We shared a car for four hours from Helsinki to Kuortane and we spoke a lot about javelin, family and other things,” Vetter said.
“I am always interested in our cultures, our nations, how sport is going on in different countries and so on. We had some good discussions and we talked a lot.”
The 28-year-old Vetter won in Kuortane with a massive throw of 93.59m while Chopra was third with 86.79m.
The 23-year-old Indian, a medal prospect in Tokyo Olympics, has a personal best of 88.07m.
Chopra, on his part, said he enjoyed his time with Vetter in 2018 and again last month.
“We had conversations about Indians and Indian food. My English is not that great but I did manage to speak something about the sport, the technique, our throws and all that,” the Indian said.
The qualification round of men’s javelin throw will be held on August 4 at the Olympic Stadium while the final will be held on August 7.