Neeraj Chopra wins gold in Lisbon meet

Lisbon: India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Friday said that he didn’t go all out while winning gold at the Meeting Cidade de Lisboa here on Thursday because his aim is to push hard in Sweden next week.

“My coach had advised me not to give 100 percent in Thursday’s competition as the field wasn’t strong. I took the competition as part of my routine training. But I will put more effort next week in an international competition in Sweden,” the 23-year-old said on Friday.

Chopra won gold with a throw of 83.18 metres in his sixth and last attempt at the Meeting Cidade de Lisboa.

The performance was nearly five metres less than his season and personal best of 88.07m, recorded in March in Patiala.

Of the six attempts allotted to each thrower, Chopra in his opening throw hurled the javelin to a distance of 80.71m, while second and third throws were no throws.

Even his fourth attempt fetched him 78.50m. Chopra’s fifth attempt too was no throw, but he pulled up to reach a distance of 83.18m in his sixth and last throw.

The Lisbon competition marked Chopra’s return to competition on the foreign soil after nearly 18 months.

In January 2020, he competed at the South African domestic meet in Potchefstroom, recording a throw of 87.86m to better the Tokyo Olympic qualification standard of 85m.

Thereafter, he couldn’t compete at the international level due to the pandemic.

Last week he got visa to travel to France and then he moved to compete in Portugal. “I expect the competition in Sweden on June 22 to be tougher. I’m prepared for that,” he added.

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