Toughest part is training, gets very little time: Neeraj Chopra

Bengaluru, Jul 3 : Double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra on Thursday said shouldering the organisational responsibilities and managing his personal preparations at the same time were his biggest challenges ahead of the international javelin event that carries his name.
The Neeraj Chopra Classic, which will have a top-class field, is set to take place at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Saturday, and the ace athlete is coming after two highly competitive events in Paris and Ostrava, Czech Republic.
The Ostrava Golden Spike competition was on June 24 while the Paris Diamond League was on June 20, and the Indian had won both the events.
“The toughest part is the training. We get very little time to train. I competed in Paris and Ostrava and then travelled to Bengaluru, so I will try my level best. We also have to arrange everything together,” Chopra said during a felicitation function organised by the Karnataka Olympic Association.
“We also have to talk to all the athletes about how to make it better. But everything is going well. We will handle this and also compete. But the biggest goal is to make it (the event) bigger,” said Chopra, who also met Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday.
The 27-year-old reigning world champion said Bengaluru was the perfect venue to host an event of such magnitude.
“I am feeling very good. The way the preparations are going, I am very happy. I thank the sports department, Karnataka Olympic Association, Karnataka government for helping me to organise an event in such short notice.
“They helped me a lot. The biggest reason to do it in Bangalore is that it is a very good city. The weather is good.” Neeraj hoped that the competition will help Indian athletes, in general, to rub shoulders with big international names and raise their performance.
“As I said, we are going to add more events. So our Indian athletes who do well at the global level, will get a chance in India to compete among other good athletes. So, we intend to increase this event further,” he added.
The 12-man field will have seven athletes from abroad and five Indians, including Chopra himself.
Germany’s 2016 Olympics champion Thomas Rohler (PB: 93.90m), Kenya’s 2015 world champion Julius Yego (PB: 92.72m), American Curtis Thompson (PB: 87.76m), Czech Martin Konecny (80.59m), Barzil’s Luiz Mauricio Da Silva (PB: 86.62m), Sri Lankan Rumesh Pathirage (PB: 85.45m) and Poland’s Cyprian Mrzygłod (PB: 85.92m) are the foreign competitors.
The four Indians, apart from Chopra, are Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh, Rohit Yadav and Sahil Silwal.
Chopra and some of the participants underwent light training at the Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday. Konecny, Thompson and Rohler were among the foreign athletes who have already arrived here. Chopra’s coach and world record holder Jan Zelezny has also arrived. (PTI)

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