‘Whenever I represent India, the event becomes important’: Neeraj Chopra ahead of CWG 2026

Neeraj Chopra says representing India is his biggest motivation as he prepares for his Commonwealth Games return after missing the 2022 edition through injury. The Olympic champion remains focused on consistency rather than targets ahead of a star-studded javelin competition in Glasgow

Glasgow: The Indian javelin ace Neeraj Chopra, who is returning to the Commonwealth Games 2026 after missing the previous edition in 2022, said he has not set any specific target in his mind to give his best according to whatever the conditions turn out to be.

Neeraj won the crown at Gold Coast 2018 but couldn’t defend the title at Birmingham 2022 as he withdrew from the tournament due to injury.

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“There is no specific target as such. The only thought in mind is that whenever you compete, try to give your absolute best and put in 100 percent on the day so that there are no regrets later. During the competition, the goal will simply be to give my best according to whatever the conditions turn out to be,” Neeraj told reporters on Sunday.

“Whenever I represent my country, it automatically becomes important to me. Since I have come here to compete for India, I will give my 100 percent. How things turn out will be known on the day of the event, but I always give 100 percent whenever I represent my country, and that is the same target here. Our other athletes are also well-prepared. There are two javelin throwers—Rohit has come in after making a very good throw—so we will try to deliver a good performance together,” he added.

The Olympic and world champion sustained a lower back problem shortly before the World Athletics Championships in September last year, where he finished eight. He has competed only once in the 2026 season, when he featured in the Doha Diamond League in June, finishing fourth with a throw of 85.69m.

The 28-year-old said he worked on his shortcomings after the Doha meet and arrived in Glasgow fit. “Right now, I am feeling quite fine. Doha was my first competition after the Tokyo World Championships. I had a good throw there, and after that, we worked on the areas where I fell short and focused on my fitness. So now, I am better,” he said.

Asked if he is feeling free after achieving the 90m mark or if there is any pressure of maintaining the consistency of matching the elusive mark, Neeraj said, “It isn’t pressure as such, but as an athlete, it is always in my mind to keep increasing my distance. That is constantly on my mind. When you are competing in major games, the biggest challenge is to win a medal or a gold among the world’s best athletes. Distance is important to me, and I want to keep pushing it further.

“However, amid that target, I feel that when you face such conditions where all top athletes are competing together, huge distances don’t always come out. In those situations, you have to maintain your consistency. So what stays in my mind is to maintain my consistency and keep trying to gradually improve. So yes, definitely, my target is to push my throw even further,” he concluded.

The men’s javelin qualifying round is scheduled for July 30 at the Scotstoun Stadium, with the final the following day. Neeraj’s bid to reclaim the CWG title is far from easy, as the men’s javelin line-up is loaded with top names such as reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem and rising Sri Lankan talent Rumesh Pathirage, who holds the world lead of 92.62m this season.

Grenada’s two-time former world champion Anderson Peters and reigning world and former Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago are also in the fray.