CHENNAI : Winning turns into addiction. There are multiple studies that say it gives the same high as drugs, meditation or when you see something exceptionally beautiful. It releases hormones like dopamine that triggers euphoria and happiness. That perhaps can explain why top athletes, despite winning everything, would expend energy in every sinew of their body to succeed. Success, after all, leads to ambition. And that ambition propels your life.
Neeraj Chopra says and believes that throwers don't have a finish line. And now he is living that. He is a rare breed who thrives on performing at the grandest of stages. He knows his limits but at the same time, like all champions, wouldn't like to lose. Three days after securing the World Championship title, Neeraj was trailing at fifth place after three rounds of throws at the Zurich Diamond League. He showed he was not divine after all. And that recovery, both mental and physical, is crucial for a sportsperson. Since the Tokyo Olympics and now the World Championships, Neeraj finishing second too can be considered as a story.
Neeraj sounded heavy during a webinar and despite this being a second interaction in five days with journalists, his words never failed to awe and excite. In Neeraj's words, the Thursday DL event was the third in a week. "The qualification (Friday) before the final on Sunday, too, should be considered as a competition even if I had to throw once to qualify but for us, it is a competition. This is perhaps the first time I am competing in three competitions in one week."
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He felt it was not easy to peak after the World Championships and even other athletes were feeling the same.
"I think I did not have a good warm-up and needed more time," he said, adding that he struggled with his run-up in the first three throws. "I had to push myself a bit more and I managed to get two 85+ throws. I also didn't want to risk an injury."
For a thrower who doesn't like to linger around till late, Neeraj needed an 85.22m in the fourth and 85.71m in the final throw to finish behind Czech Jakub Vadlejch (85.86m). Germany's Julian Weber finished third with 85.04m. Neeraj revealed he was not feeling hundred per cent.
In fact even before the World Championships, he was down with a bit of cough and cold. Neeraj being Neeraj, he said he did not want to say this during the World Championships because it would have been construed as an excuse if he had not done well. "I had a sore throat before the qualification and even now, I am not 100 per cent here, but I will be fine," he said.
The Eugene Diamond League final and the Asian Games would be Neeraj’s next two targets this season and he said he wanted to keep fit for the competitions.
"I will give my 100 per cent in Eugene and in the Asian Games," said the thrower. The challenge would be adjusting to the time zones of Eugene in the US and Hangzhou in China. "We have to adjust quickly," he said.
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For the 25-year-old, defending his Olympic title next year will be special but at the same time, he will have more pressure. He said all athletes will come prepared and for him, the pressure of expectation will be more. "The pressure in Paris will be more than Tokyo because there will be a lot of expectations and also I will have more expectations on me," he said.
Neeraj also narrated the anecdote about Worlds silver medallist, Arshad Nadeem, not finding his national flag to wave. "I was feeling sad because he also wanted to wave the flag but he found one after a brief while and we clicked a photo with Jakub," said Neeraj. As of now, he will be training in Switzerland before flying to the US for the Diamond League final and the Asian Games later.
