2 months to go for Olympics, Neeraj Chopra faces a scare — after fatigue of back-to-back events in Doha and Bhubaneshwar

Exactly two months before the Paris Olympics, India’s biggest medal hope Neeraj Chopra has pulled out of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event at Ostrava in the Czech Republic because of adductor muscle stiffness. The health scare comes towards the end of a hectic month where the Tokyo Olympics javelin gold medalist had participated in two competitions — Doha Diamond League and Bhubaneswar Federation Cup — that were just four days apart.

Neeraj in a statement on social media said that he “felt something” in his adductor after a recent throwing session and wasn’t taking the risk of competing because of his past problems with the muscle. “…I am not injured but I don’t want to take any risk during the Olympic year so I had to take this decision. Once I feel it’s fully recovered, I will get back to competitions,” he said.

Manisha Malhotra, the head of Sports Excellence and Scouting at JSW Sports, the firm that manages Chopra, mentioned “back-to-back competitions” as a reason for the pull out. “Neeraj has pulled out because of adductor tightness and the fatigue of competing in back-to-back events in Doha and Bhubaneshwar. The day after the Federation Cup in Bhubaneshwar he travelled back to Poland, where he has been training. Neeraj skipping the meet is a precautionary step. He is scheduled to participate in the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku next month,” Malhotra told The Indian Express.

The blip in Neeraj’s preparation, so close to the July 26-August 11 Olympics, raises a question: Why did the world’s top javelin athlete participate in a domestic event like the Fed Cup at Bhubaneshwar?

It is learnt that the Federation Cup was not on the star javelin thrower’s original schedule but he made the trip following a call with top Athletics Federation of India (AFI) officials. In the conversation, Chopra said that he wasn’t willing to participate in the June-end Inter-State Championships at Panchkula, a competition mandatory for all Olympics-bound athletes as per AFI policy, since it would disturb his training and competition schedule in Europe.

So, in lieu of that, he opted for the Fed Cup and took the Bhubaneshwar detour after the Diamond League in Doha. It is learnt that Neeraj’s adductor flared after the Fed Cup final, his first competition at home following the Tokyo Olympics.

AFI’s chief national coach Radhakrishnan Nair gave a chronology of the events. “Two weeks before the Federation Cup we had a meeting which was attended by myself, president (Adille Sumariwalla), Lalit Bhanot (AFI planning commission chief) and Neeraj. In that meeting, Neeraj said that he won’t be able to compete in the Inter-State Championships because he has a competition in Finland on June 18 and another competition on July 7. The AFI policy is that all athletes must participate in the Inter-State competition and the same had been informed to Neeraj as well over two months ago. So, Neeraj offered that he can participate in the Federation Cup instead and his coach also agreed that they would come for the Federation Cup. So we (AFI) said it is fine,” Nair told The Indian Express.

No exemption for Neeraj: AFI

Asked if Neeraj, a proven gold medal winner at the Olympics and the World Championships, should have been given an exemption, chief coach Nair said: “No, this year we have made it compulsory for everyone to participate. Athletes, including Neeraj, were informed about this over two months ago.”

Chopra reached Bhubaneswar on May 14, a day before the men’s javelin final. He won gold with an 82.27-metre throw in the fourth round, way below his personal best of 89.94 metres, and gave the last two rounds a miss. After the final, the same evening, Neeraj and five other athletes had a promotional shoot for Puma.

The next day, the AFI announced that they had signed a deal with Puma for apparel, shoes and accessories for 400 Indian athletes. On May 16, a day after the Puma promotion shoot, Neeraj appeared before the camera for an Indian Olympic Association shoot, which also had a slot for JSW Inspire Apparel, also in Bhubaneshwar.

Chief national coach Nair denied that Neeraj’s participation in the Federation Cup was linked to the tie-up between the AFI and Puma.

In his first competition of the year, the Doha Diamond League, Neeraj finished second with a throw of 88.36 metres. The Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch, the Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, won the competition in Qatar’s capital city with a throw of 88.38 metres.

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