‘Not that happy with my performance’: Neeraj Chopra after winning Golden Spike title in Ostrava

India’s javelin star said that he fell short of expectations on Tuesday 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,” he said.

Douw Smit of South Africa was second with his second round throw of 84.12m while two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada was third with his opening attempt of 83.63m. Chopra was at third at the end of the second round after opening with a foul before a 83.45m throw. But he jumped to the top spot with his third round effort of 85.29m. He recorded 82.17m and 81.01m in his next two throws before fouling his final attempt.

German Thomas Rohler, the gold winner in the 2016 Rio Olympics, finished seventh with a poor throw of 79.18m. The 30-year-old has been struggling for some time. In the absence of Chopra’s German rival Julian Weber, the field in Ostrava was thin and the double Olympic-medallist Indian was the favourite for the title.

The 27-year-old Indian was not at his best even though his coach Zelezny was present close to him inside the throw area as the Czech legend was the event director of the meet held in his home country.
Chopra had skipped the last two editions of Golden Spike — an event that his coach Zelezny won nine times in a storied career — due to fitness issues.

His next outing will be at the NC Classic in Bengaluru on July 5, where Anderson Peters and Thomas Rohler are also expected to compete.

(With agency inputs)

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