India’s two-time Olympic medal-winning javelin thrower, Neeraj Chopra, has declared his intention to make a strong push for a podium finish at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo. The 26-year-old, fresh off a second-place finish at the Diamond League finale in Brussels, sees this as the next major target in his illustrious career.
Chopra’s return to India comes after a season marked by injury setbacks, including an adductor muscle niggle and a fractured left hand. Despite these challenges, he remains optimistic about his recovery, stating, “The season is over now. The biggest target for next year is the World Championship, and we will begin preparations for that now. The Olympics are always on our minds, but we have four years for that.”
He addressed concerns about his fitness, stating, “It was an injury-plagued year but injury is fine now, I will be 100 per cent fit for the new season.” He also revealed his plans to work on his technique, aiming for continuous improvement. “Technical issues are also there but we will work on them. I will look to improve my technique. I do like to train in India but when competitions start, I prefer to train abroad,” he explained.
Looking back on India’s performance at the recent Olympics, which saw six medals but no gold, Chopra pointed out that the country could have done even better, highlighting a number of fourth-place finishes. He expressed optimism about India’s potential in future Olympic and Paralympic competitions, saying, “There were a lot of fourth positions. (But) this time, we had a very good performance in the Paralympics and won several medals. In the coming times, we expect strong performances in both the Olympics and the Paralympics.”
Chopra remains committed to his goal of breaking the 90m mark. Despite coming close in recent competitions, including his silver-winning throw of 89.45m at the Paris Olympics and an 87.86m throw at the Diamond League finale, he is determined to achieve this milestone.
