Reigning champion Neeraj Chopra injured weeks ahead of Paris Olympics, to skip Ostrava meet
Paris Olympics 2024: India's Neeraj Chopra settles for silver in javelin throw; Pak's Arshad Nadeem wins gold
Reigning Olympics champion,India's Neeraj Chopra has been injured just months before the start of the Paris Games. As a result, Chopra will be skipping Ostrava's Golden Spike meet, scheduled to start on May 28 after feeling 'something' in his adductor muscle during training.
The organisers on Sunday (May 26) issued a statement, informing about Neeraj's noticeable absence from the event in Czechia.
“The organisers did note a message from the Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra. Due to an injury that he sustained in training two weeks ago (adductor muscle) he will not be able to throw in Ostrava,” read the statement.
The 26-year-old said he didn't want to push his bodyso close to the quadrennial event and decided to skip the meet.
“I have had problems with it in the past and pushing it at this stage can lead to injury. Just to clarify, I am not injured but I don't want to take any risk during the Olympic year so had to take this decision. Once I feel it's fully recovered, I will get back to competitions,” said Neeraj.
The injury also puts in doubt Neeraj's presence at thePaavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, on June 18.Chopra won a silver in the 2022 edition with a throw of 89.30 metres.
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Neeraj secures gold
Neeraj was last seen in action 10 days ago in the Federation Cup in Odisha, where he won the gold medal with a 82.27-metre throw. It was Chopra's first event in India since winning the historic gold medal at the 2020Olympics.
“It was nice to compete in India after so long. Thanks to all the fans who came out to support us today,” Neeraj said after winning the gold.
The gold comes on the back of Neeraj's second-place finish in the recently concluded Diamond League in Doha where he registered an impressive throw of 88.36 metres.
Neeraj rose to fame in Tokyo 2020 by winning thegold medal in men's javelin event (India's first Olympic gold medal in athletics) with an impressive 87.58-metre throw.
Following his Tokyo blitz, Neeraj became the world champion and even registered a personal best (PB) distance of 89.94 metres at the Stockholm Diamond League in 2022.
The Paris Olympics 2024 will start on July 26 and Neeraj will be entering as one of the favourites to win the gold once again.
(With inputs from agencies)