Sonipat (Haryana) [India], September 27 : India's ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra received a rousing welcome at the Sports University of Haryana in Sonipat's Rai on Friday.
Neeraj returned to India earlier this month after his silver medal triumph at the Paris Olympics and a remarkable Diamond League final performance.
Ever after reaching remarkable distance, Neeraj still finds himself short of that elusive 90m mark. However, the 26-year-old is not worried and feels it will come with time.
"There is time for that, no worries (chuckling)," Neeraj told ANI when asked about the 90m mark.
Neeraj injured himself in practice, and X-rays revealed a fracture in the fourth metacarpal of my left hand. The injury has forced him to remain on the sidelines for the remainder of the year.
"It is fine. The season has now ended, so it will recover well (his injury)," Neeraj said while talking about his injury,
After failing to retain his gold medal in the Paris Olympics against his arch-rival Arshad Nadeem, Neeraj is not straightaway targeting the LA 2028 Olympics. He is looking to take it step by step and prepare for one challenge and then the next one.
"There is a lot of time in LA28; next year, the World Championship will take place, so I will prepare for it. Slowly, I will prepare for all the competitions," Neeraj added.
Children formed two rows and applauded when Neeraj arrived at the Sports University. With all smiles, Neeraj waved towards the children, creating a heartwarming moment.
"It always feels good to come here. I wanted to come here and discuss how we can increase the number of medals," Neeraj noted.
During his recent exploits in the Diamond League final, Neeraj started strong with a throw of 86.82m, placing him second behind Grenada's Anderson Peters, whose winning throw came in the opening round.
Julian Weber also recorded his best on his first attempt. Neeraj followed up with an 83.49m throw and came close to overtaking Peters on his third attempt, missing by just 1 centimetre. His subsequent throws measured 82.04m, 83.30m, and 86.46m.
In the Paris Olympics, he secured a silver with a best throw of 89.45m. Nadeem won gold with a throw of 92.97m, setting a new Olympic record and surpassing Denmark's Andreas Thorkildsen's mark from Beijing 2008. Grenada's Anderson Peters secured bronze with a throw of 88.54m.