Despite fulfilling his childhood dream of winning the Golden Spike tournament title, two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra isn’t satisfied with his performance late on Tuesday night.
Photo: IANS
Despite fulfilling his childhood dream of winning the Golden Spike tournament title, two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra isn’t satisfied with his performance late on Tuesday night.
The 27-year-old came up with a best attempt of 85.29m to secure the title in a nine-man field at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event.
Advertisement
“I am not that happy with my performance today, but I am very happy with the trophy I won,” said Chopra.
Advertisement
“I used to watch this meeting a lot as a kid. I watched people like Jan Zelezny and Usain Bolt winning the Golden Spike and I dreamt of winning one as well. Now the dream has come true,” he added.
The Panipat-born star athlete admitted that he fell short of his own expectations, especially in front of a packed crowd.
“I know the javelin throw is very popular in Czechia. The amount of support we were getting from the crowd was crazy. I just wish I could have performed better for them,” said Chopra, who breached the elusive 90m-mark during his second place finish in Doha Diamond League in May.
Chopra recorded his winning effort in the third round after opening with a foul and a second throw of 83.45m. He followed up with 82.17m and 81.01m before another foul in the final round.
Despite a modest mark by his high standards, Chopra continued his strong form this season, coming off a Diamond League win in Paris, a couple of days earlier.
The reigning world champion will now return home to take part at the NC Classic in Bengaluru on July 5, where the likes of Anderson Peters and Thomas Rohler are also expected to compete.
Advertisement
