It’s down to Neeraj Chopra once again, isn’t it? When he strides into the Stade de France on Thursday night, it will take the talismanic spear thrower’s broad shoulders to salvage an Olympic campaign that began promisingly but now seems mired in despair. So far, he’s done little that makes it seem the burden is too heavy for him to carry. The 24-year-old will go into the final as the reigning Olympic champion. He’s also the reigning world champion. He also goes into the final with the biggest throw in the qualification round (89.34m). It’s his best throw of the season and over the last couple of years. He achieved it in his very first attempt and looks like he’s more than capable of doing more.
None of this will matter in the final though. “There’s no comparison between the qualifying and final rounds. There is a difference in mentality. There is a difference in conditions,” he says. Conditions predict big throws. The track is fast. There’s no cross breeze either. Neeraj knows he will have to be at his best. He might have an Olympic title. None of the other 11 finalists do. They are all hungry to get that gold medal. Not all of them will be counted as contenders, of course. The threat is likely to come from four others – European champion Julian Weber (87.76m in qualifying), Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch (85.63m), World silver medallist Arshad Nadeem, (86.59m) and two-time world champion Anderson Peters (88.63m).
Neeraj knows the competition is likely to be fierce. Although he is the Olympic champion and world champion, he also knows he’s not unbeatable. Neeraj has competed thrice this year – his season opener at the Doha Diamond League, at the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar and the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland. He was beaten by Vadlejch in Doha – a win the Czech considered revenge for previous losses. But there are other throwers out for revenge too. Pakistan’s Nadeem is there. He calls Neeraj with the honorific ‘bhai’ and finished behind him at the World Championships. But he’s throwing as effortlessly as ever and will surely want to earn his own place in the spotlight. There’s Peters too. The Grenadian is smarting after being denied a third world gold in Budapest a year ago. In his warm up ahead of the qualifying round, dressed in his track pants and jacket, he threw what looked like a near 90m throw. You can’t forget Weber either, the sole German in the Olympic final. He’s carrying a proud tradition of throwing with him. He’s finished just outside the podium at the last couple of Worlds and the Tokyo Olympics. Surely, he won’t be denied another time.
That’s just what Neeraj will be expected to do. There are a number of claimants to his throne. He must push his way out to the front.
