By Shreya Karuna De
No athlete is immune to pressure. Some get bogged down by the enormity of the occasion, others battle past their inner demons to conquer the emotions. Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra is one of them. Even if the Tokyo Games gold medalist doesn’t want to be fluttered by the talks surrounding his elusive 90 metre-mark, he can’t help but feel the pressure. Still, the javelin thrower has been putting up an unflappable demeanour ahead of the all-crucial World Athletics Championships in USA’s Oregon from July 15 to 24 to become the country’s first track and field athlete to finish on the top of the podium at the global meet.
“Some of the athletes simply accept that they are under pressure ahead of an event. Others just shut themselves out. I have never said that I don’t feel the pressure when performing on as big a platform as the World Championships. It’s natural of an athlete to feel it. But, the real deal is to have that clarity of thoughts and stay calm even during a challenging situation. If we start burdening ourselves with the mountain of expectations, it will disturb our rhythm and situational awareness. If you fail to achieve the desired distance in two or three of your javelin throws, your mind and body will become frustrated. The pressure could lead to a situation where you lose your control over your technique and start committing mistakes by just using the force in your throws. Javelin is a technical game and you need to keep that command over your technique,” Neeraj told TOI in an exclusive virtual interaction from Eugene, Oregon.
