‘Health is paramount’ – Neeraj Chopra prioritizes fitness over competitions ahead of Paris Olympics

With a little more than a month to go before he defends his Olympic title in Paris, Neeraj Chopra is off the circuit, away from the public eye but hard at work fine-tuning his technique to be at his best at the Games.

There have been concerns that Chopra has too few competitions under his belt this season going into the Olympics but the man himself is confident that he’s made the right choice prioritising his body over the need to compete.

“This is the time to fix and improve things,” Neeraj tells ESPN in an exclusive conversation. “I will fix whatever we feel needs to improve. For the next two weeks, I can add load during training and then, as they say, it will be time to polish things.” And he follows that with a hearty laugh.

That sense of lightness, of being unaffected by external factors, is one of his strongest traits and, happily for Indian fans it’s in evidence during the conversation. Speaking from his training base in Saarbrucken, Germany, he says his regimen has now been tweaked to high-intensity sessions that will bring out the best in him. It’s hard work but he sees the fun side of things too.

“I like training (at this point, before a major competition)…mazze toh training main hi hoti hai [It’s fun in training now]. If you look at the programme 2-3 months ago, there was a lot of load on the body and training was also intense. We work out a lot then but utni furti nahi hota body main [there isn’t as much explosive power in the body]. Now my workouts are less in volume, but will be at a high level and my body will be at its peak.”

The main fix is to reduce the impact on the groin muscle of his blocking leg. The block is the most important part of the throw as it transfers the momentum and power generated from the acceleration via the legs to the hips and then to the throwing arm before the javelin is released.

“I need to strengthen my blocking leg when I throw because that’s when my groin gets pulled,” he says. “We’re working on that to see how we can reduce the impact on the groin and control the pressure on it.”

It was a groin injury that had forced Neeraj to miss the Commonwealth Games last year and it came back to trouble him this May, when felt discomfort in his adductor.

The adductor niggle is also why Neeraj has limited himself to just three competitions before the Paris Olympics (he participated in five competitions before the Tokyo Olympics).

“I could have competed in more events for sure and that was the plan, but I have realized that my health is paramount, that comes first. Even if I feel the slightest discomfort or like I am pushing myself too much in training, I’ve learnt to pause for a bit.”

That’s why he pulled out of the Ostrava Golden Spike in late May and has also chosen to skip the Paris Diamond League next week.

He points out that he would not have had this mindset, of prioritizing his body, before the Tokyo Olympics. “Back then, if I had an entry in a competition, I would definitely go and compete no matter what happened (laughs). But now with more experience, I am better placed to make correct decisions,” he says.

It’s also why Neeraj did not push himself to the maximum in two of the three competitions he has competed in this year. His best throw at the Federation Cup was 82.27m and at the Paavo Nurmi Games was 85.97m, both among the lowest distances he has thrown since becoming Olympic champion.

“At the Federation Cup, I didn’t really feel I needed to perform. I did not give it my full force because I had competed in the Doha Diamond League four days ago…Bhubaneswar’s heat was on a different level too and, given the travel, I felt I had not recovered completely and hence did not give it my 100%”

Then followed a break, dictated by the groin issue. “Mujhe laga groin mein phir se kuch lag raha hai [and felt discomfort in my groin]. I felt it was best to pause and properly recover. It was not like it was a major problem, but I felt if I went to a competition…I had the entry at Ostrava and Julian Weber and Jakub Vadlejch were also participating. I felt I would have given it my 100% there, but gadbad bhi ho sakti thi [things could go wrong] and I didn’t want to take that chance, especially before the Olympics.”

Neeraj took a step back and spent time in training before competing at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku. Even there, the focus was not on the distance of the throw but to see how the body shaped up.

“I was happy with my performance in Turku, but I felt there was more work to do. As you would have noticed, I was slow on the runway compared to my normal speed. I want that speed back and for that, I need proper confidence that I am fully fit and that my groin is fit. I want to feel confident when I run on the runway.”

Neeraj has had a mixed season so far, but that doesn’t mean it’s been a bad one. His 88.36m throw at the Doha Diamond League ranks #4 in the world in 2024 and as Neeraj has repeatedly said, all it takes is one throw.

For now, Neeraj goes back to his routine as he prepares for the biggest competition of his career. He jokes about how boring athlete’s lives are, but is quick to add that he enjoys every bit of it. “Ek hi routine chalta rahta hai lambi time tak. Baar baar repeat karna hota hai: shareer ko thodo, khao, piyo, so jao and phir repeat. (laughs) Par mazza aata hai. [We follow the same routine for a long time and repeat the same things time and again. We workout, eat, hydrate, sleep and do it all over again. But I enjoy it].”