Want to have clarity of thoughts, says Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra as he heads onto the World Athletics Championship

The World Athletics Championship is upon us and India’s primary hope to end the 19-year-old drought lies on Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra. While the javelin thrower won every Indian heart with his heroics in Tokyo, he was on a long break since returning from the Olympics. However he has maintained his shape and consistency as he is breaking national records with every other throw. While Neeraj is still a few centimeters away from the 90m mark, the Indian is confident of achieving that goal in the coming days.

The World Athletics Championships is scheduled to be held in the USA’s Oregon and it will happen between July 15-24. Neeraj Chopra will aim for Gold once again and if he manages to do so he will be the first Indian to take the top step in the podium at this global meet of track and field athletes.

Neeraj Chopra has often looked very calm and composed, he shared how he was not feeling the pressure in Tokyo. But here when the stakes are high and there is a lot of expectations, the javelin star is starting feel the pressure.

“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,” the Olympic champion told Times of India ahead of the big event.

He shared how he does not want to feel that pressure in this event as he does not want to enter the field with an aura of an Olympic champion. He shared that he trusts his preparation and will try to do his best with a lot of calmness and composure. “I would look to compete at the World Championships with a pressure-free mindset. I won’t like to bring that aura of invincibility with me that ‘oh, I am an Olympic champion’. I will put my natural game into play and give my 100 percent on the field,” Neeraj added.

It will be exciting to see Neeraj Chopra at yet another global event but the scenes have changed from the Tokyo Olympics. There the Indian had some hope which he turned into reality, here at Oregon they will have a lot of expectation and belief from him and he needs to stand on that belief and prove them right once again. It is surely a huge burden on young shoulders but he is someone who turns up in big events.