How Neeraj Chopra fell victim to nervous 90s in botched Olympic title defence

New Delhi: In April 2023, Neeraj Chopra showed promise to end the everlasting question thrown at him of breaching the 90m mark, which he has been asked for the last six years. On Thursday, that query remained unresolved as the 26-year-old failed to defend his Olympic gold medal in the men’s javelin throw event at the Stade de France stadium.

On a day when millions of eyes hoped for a gold to end the agony of nearly missed fourth-places in this Summer Games, Neeraj botched his title defence campaign. The moment Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem hurled the javelin for an Olympic record of 92.97m in his second attempt, it was going to be the Indian athlete’s task to cut out to snatch the gold medal from there.

Not that he pressed the panic button in the initial phase, throwing a second career-best distance of 89.45m to accept the arduous challenge. Following that throw, Neeraj gestured the crowd that the competition was still on, but it only remained an abstraction.

The top two spots of Arshad-Neeraj never shuffled because the Indian javelin thrower couldn’t translate his fighting spirit into a competition. It was over after the second throw itself. Arshad was head and shoulders above the rest of the 11 competitors and Neeraj’s Achilles heel couldn’t help him push further.

Men’s javelin throw final was BIG 🔥

🥇 92.97m OR Arshad Nadeem 🇵🇰
🥈 89.45m @Neeraj_chopra1 🇮🇳
🥉 88.54m Anderson Peters 🇬🇩 #Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/jPrVZZ6txl

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 8, 2024

Neeraj leaves his absolute best behind

Out of the six allocated throws, five were red-flagged and called as foul throws. He slipped down in three of those at least, a sign that said that India’s most decorated track and field athlete has crumbled under pressure. His fifth attempt did bring out that deep loud cry, one that has over the years embodied a buoyant Neeraj Chopra. But only if he was mentally present in the competition he wouldn’t have crossed that line nonchalantly. Was it done unconsciously? Maybe yes, maybe no.

One would hope for Neeraj to save his best throw for the final one but even if that was a legal throw it wasn’t going past 80m. It was a off day for Neeraj in the office but yet he managed to claim the silver but the 90m barricade was always going to check his temperament.

Was there a realistic chance for Neeraj for a comeback?

Among the top eight contenders, only Germany’s Julian Weber (88.37m) and Finland’s Lassi Etelato (86.44m) have never crossed the 90m mark apart from Neeraj. Though the Haryana-based athlete’s personal best reads 89.94m, he has only managed to cross 89m for once (89.08m at Lausanne Diamond League 2022) in the last two years until he beat that mark twice in this Paris Games.

On the other hand, Arshad was assured with a gold medal with still a throw left in the event. He could have just finished with a mere effort to complete the event but then there was another 90-plus monstrous throw of 91.79m which was more than enough for all his competitors to rub salt on their wounds.

For Neeraj, this should only serve the platform to introspect and reignite the hunger to shatter the 90m debacle.

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 Out of the six allocated throws to Neeraj Chopra, five were red-flagged and called as foul throws. He slipped down in three of those at least, a sign that said that India’s most decorated track and field athlete has crumbled under pressure.  Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today