'I Am Not That Happy': Neeraj Chopra Admits To Below-Par Performance In Ostrava
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Neeraj Chopra won Ostrava Golden Spike with an 85.29m throw, but was not satisfied with his performance, aiming for better results at the World Championship.
Double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra has said that although he is very happy with his win at the Ostrava Golden Spike event on Tuesday, he isn't very happy with his performance, which saw him manage a throw of 85.29m to bag the title, way below his personal best of 90.23m, that he bagged last month in Doha.
While Neeraj finished at the top, South Africa's Douw Smit finished second with an 84.12m throw, while Grenada's Anderson Peters was third with 83.63. Germany's Thomas Rohler finished a surprising seventh with 79.18m in a nine-man field.
Neeraj's best throw of 85.29m was enough to bag the victory over his eight opponents at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event in Ostrava.
'I am not that happy with my performance today, but I am very happy with the trophy I won. 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," Neeraj said after the event.
Though he led the charts, the two-time Olympic medallist admitted that he fell short of his expectations 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," Neeraj said.
The two-time Olympic medallist recorded his winning effort in the third round after opening with a foul and a second throw of 83.45m.
Neeraj followed up with 82.17m and 81.01m before another foul in the last round. Despite a modest mark by his high standards, he continued his strong form this season, coming off a Diamond League victory in Paris just days earlier.
Neeraj's next outing will be at the NC Classic in Bengaluru on Saturday, July 5, where Peters and Rohler are expected to compete as well.
Unwilling to put himself under pressure of regular 90m throws, Neeraj had said that he had a good feeling about the Golden Spike Athletics meet in Ostrava as he builds up for his ultimate goal this year, a top finish at the World Championship in Tokyo.
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