French high for golden boy Neeraj Chopra

New Delhi: Having joined hands with an overseas coach, Uwe Hohn of Germany, country’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has only seen ascendancy in his career, the latest being a gold at the Sotteville Athletics meet in France on Tuesday night.

The Panipat boy, who won a gold at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games earlier this year, threw 85.17 metres at Sotteville-les-Rouen to emerge on top after beating a competitive field that included 2012 London Olympics gold medallist Keshorn Walcott.

Moldova’s Andrian Mardare (81.48m) took the silver ahead of Edis Matusevicius (79.31m) of Lithuania.

“It was a tough competition. I came here to give my 100 per cent. At the Diamond League in Eugene, USA, I threw 83m so I came here to better my performance and I was successful in achieving it. I had a discussion with my coach and he told me to throw 85m here… and by God’s grace, I returned with even better result,” Chopra told this paper from Finland on Wednesday.

Chopra’s training programme went into disarray following the exit of his Australian coach Garry Calvert after a 15-month stint in May 2017 but things turned around once Hohn took over. The German, the only person to have crossed the 100 metre mark, took charge in November and it had a tremendous effect on Chopra’s performance. The 20-year-old is training in Finland after Gold the Coast Commonwealth Games.

“He is doing a fantastic job. I am happy the way he has been instrumental in my training… but our focus is the Asian Games. I am determined to give my best shot in Jakarta,” said the jet-lagged Chopra.

Neeraj’s performance was brilliant as he did not falter in even a single attempt and completed each of his rounds in Sotteville-les-Rouen. Even as his score of 85.17m came in his fifth attempt, he came close to his eventual winning mark in his third attempt.

He also won the gold at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast earlier this year before breaking the national record with 87.43m effort at the Doha Diamond League in May, where he finished fourth.

“Well done Neeraj...Keep going...Congratulations to Neeraj and coach Uwe Hohn (former world record holder in javelin throw). Thank you SAI and Govt of India for agreeing to send Neeraj to Finland along with coach for training on recommendation of Athletics Federation of India,” AFI president Adille Sumariwala tweeted praising the youngster.

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