India’s poster boy Neeraj Chopra has taken the country, which for decades lived on the highs and lows from near misses of Milkha Singh and PT Usha, to new heights with the gold medal heave at the Tokyo Olympics.
Chopra returned in style to win the Diamond League to add to his collection of all the other major titles. The only one missing from his glittering cupboard is the World title and Budapest will probably end that wait too.
The Indian star is unbeaten in 2023 though he took part only in Doha and Lausanne and that meant he didn’t meet the criteria for a world ranking.
However, the fans can safely bet on Chopra to emerge on the podium. Chopra — silver in Oregon 2022 and Anju, a bronze 20 years back — are the only two Indians to win World Championship medals.
Despite all the positive vibes, the season’s performance charts indicate that the going may not be easy if Chopra doesn’t get going from the start, like he famously did in Tokyo.
He is third in the season’s best list — his 88.67m just behind the 88.72m of Julian Weber and World leader Czech Jakub Vadlejch (89.51m). The 32-year-old Czech, a former student of Jan Zelezny who won in 1993, 95 and 2001, looks the most consistent and will be determined to make up for his previous lapses on the big stage.
Weber will be another contender and the German will be gunning for the prime spot after finishing fourth last year.
SABLE, SHAILI IN ACTION TODAY
The opening day will witness Avinash Sable in men’s 3000m steeplechase heats, Shaili Singh in women’s long jump qualification and the trio of Praveen Chitravel, Eldhose Paul and Abdulla Aboobacker in the men’s triple jump qualification round. The withdrawal of triple jump defending champion Pedro Pichardo of Cuba may come as good news for his rivals.
Chitravel enters the arena with the fifth best this season thanks to his leap of 17.37m in Havana. Aboobacker goes into the meet with the confidence he gathered from medal shopping at the Asian Championships in Bangkok. Paul, meanwhile, had a quiet season so far and the CWG champion is capable of springing a surprise.
Murali Sreeshankar and Jeswin Aldrin can work towards their best form with the focus and hopes firmly on Chopra’s shoulders.