Neeraj Chopra’s consistency in 2022 saves Indian athletics blushes in a year marred with doping menace-Sports News , Firstpost

Kolkata: 2022 has been a memorable year for the Indian track and field. Building upon the success of Neeraj Chopra’s Tokyo Olympic gold medal last year, some of the other lesser-known faces in Avinash Sable, Eldhose Paul, Murali Sreeshankar among others wrote their own stories in a calendar year that had Commonwealth Games and World Athletics Championships clubbed in it.

The Birmingham Games, in particular, were in the spotlight with eight medals (1 gold) being bagged by the discipline as there was a sharp spike in the medal count in comparison to 2018 Gold Coast (three medals).

The spate of success somewhat overshadowed the doping menace that appeared to run rampant in the sport with regular faces turning dope positive in the year. This included the nation’s fastest woman sprinter S Dhanalakshmi and horizontal jumper B Aishwary, both of whom flunked the dope test before the Games and were subsequently withdrawn from the squad.

This couldn’t save India the embarrassment on the world stage as discus thrower Navjeet Dhillon, who won the 2018 Gold Coast bronze, tested dope positive for anabolic steroids after the CWG. The 27-year-old athlete isn’t the lone discuss thrower caught cheating in recent times as Kamalpreet Kaur, seen as an Olympic medal probable, returned positive for an anabolic steroid in May.

Javelin too was caught in the doping web as Neeraj’s camp-mate Shivpal Singh, who also participated in Tokyo Olympics, and Rajender Singh flunked tests in recent times. The list also notably included three-time Asian Games gold medallist MR Poovamma, who tested positive for Methylhexaneamine.

A common pattern in most of these athletes’ cases was the fluctuation in performances within a short span of time. For instance, Dhillon, who was throwing 58-plus metre early in the season, could only throw 53.51m at the Games.

Without taking any names, sudden spikes and drops in the graph have been noticeable in other athletes’ performances too. These names have often disappeared from the sporting scene without leaving a trace of their whereabouts and only further suggest foul play.

And despite the Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) strict adherence to the no-needle policy, the menace runs deep. This was certainly evident during Haryana’s junior state meet as used syringes were found in abundance at the venue in Rohtak earlier this year. This further reflects the need for the National Anti-Doping Bill, which was passed by Parliament last month.

Amid the growing concern, Indian track and field’s biggest star Chopra has certainly kept himself far from such doubts as the 24-year-old javelin thrower’s consistency at the top level has been palpable. Whether it’s the Paavo Nurmi Games or the World Championships, the stature of a tournament had little bearing on his performance as 88-plus throws were a regular occurrence in 2022 that saw the 24-year-old Indian re-write the national record twice.

Neeraj starting 2022 with a bang in Finland

A recurring pattern in Neeraj’s performance over the last three seasons has been starting the season on a high note. In fact, his performance in the front also shows how the athlete has grown over time. This dates back to 2020 when the young man from Sonepat threw 87.86m as early as January in South Africa to qualify for the Olympics. This was also the only time he competed in the season before the pandemic brought his season to the halt.

In 2021, he went bigger with an 88.07m national record throw as early as March at the season-opening Indian Grand Prix in Patiala. However, the best-ever start came this year in June as starting the season late was worth it with an 89.30m throw for an improved personal best. The huge effort came at the prestigious Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku (Finland), helping the current world No 2 gain more ranking points.

The Turku event couldn’t have been a better learning curve for the Indian as he still had to settle for a silver medal as Germany’s Oliver Helander shocked him to the top spot with an 89.83m throw.

First gold of season in Kuortane

Traveling some 200 miles to another Finnish city Kuortane, Neeraj bagged his first gold medal since Tokyo as he threw 86.69m for the gold at the Kuortane Games. The wet conditions forced Neeraj to be cautious as he slipped during one of the attempts as well.

The result was also prominent because this was a back-to-back third tournament where he defeated Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who was soon to become his biggest adversary for the rest of the season.

Missing 90m by a whisker at Stockholm Diamond League

Reaching Stockholm with a strong build-up by the end of June, the stage seemed all set for Neeraj to breach the 90m mark at his first big-ticket event of the season in Stockholm Diamond League. He came mighty close with an 89.94m throw as well to re-write the national record once again but not touching the elusive mark did come to haunt him as Peters threw 90.31m to take the top spot.

This was also the third time the 2019 World Champion threw 90-plus in the season while making his intentions clear for the Worlds in the USA. The second-place for Neeraj was still crucial as it opened his account in the League with seven points.

Historic silver medal in Oregon

Stockholm’s show was just the impetus Neeraj needed ahead of the World Athletics Championships in July as he threw 88.39m in the qualification round and followed it up with another 88.13m to take the silver medal in Oregon. Peters was Neeraj’s party spoiler again as the Grenadian threw 90.54m to defend his title.

This doesn’t take the shine away from Neeraj’s achievement as the silver medal wasn’t just India’s biggest success at the top-most track and field event but also ended India’s 19-year-old medal drought. India’s sole laurel at the Worlds prior to Oregon was won by long jump legend Anju Bobby George, who won bronze in Paris in 2003.

Birmingham Games gave birth to new rival from Pakistan

However, Neeraj’s marauding run came to an abrupt halt with a groin injury (sustained during the Worlds), which stopped him from defending his Commonwealth Games gold medal in a fortnight’s time.

Despite skipping the quadrennial event in August, the javelin event still caught everyone’s attention as Pakistan Arshad Nadeem stunned World Champion Peters to the gold with a huge 90.18m throw. The 25-year-old improved close to four meters on his previous personal best and carried the form to the Islamic Solidarity Games in five days’ time for another gold by hurling the javelin 88.55m.

Comeback from injury with maiden Diamond League title in Lausanne

Neeraj, on the other hand, had to wait till the end of August to compete and did so in style by winning his first Diamond League title in Lausanne, Switzerland. Neeraj threw 89.08m for the gold, his third 89-plus throw of the season, to become the first Indian to win a Diamond League event.

The victory also confirmed his grand final ticket in Zurich by finishing fourth in the standing with 15 points (8 points in Lausanne).

Lived up to favourite tag in Zurich 

Neeraj entered the Diamond League grand final in Zurich as the heavy favourite with Peters not competing and the Indian lived up to the billing by winning the title unchallenged. Neeraj threw 88.44m, 1.5m more than his nearest rival Jakub Vadlejch, to become India’s first Diamond League champion.

90m remains elusive

Following the triumph, Neeraj suggested he’s done for the season and is already thinking of his next year’s preparations. However, one of the biggest targets of the season of breaching 90m remained elusive, much to the disappointment of the fans; especially after Nadeem’s CWG heroics.

In fact, the talks of Neeraj going past the mark began the day he comfortably crossed the 85m mark in his teens at the World U-20 Championships in 2016. His effort of 86.48m stands as the age-group record to this day. The expectations only grew bigger in two years’ time in Jakarta when Neeraj entered the 88m-zone for the first time at the Asian Games with an 88.06m throw for the gold.

At that point, touching 90m was deemed essential to have a shot at winning an Olympic medal by many experts. The conception, however, changed at the 2019 World Championship when Peters took the crown with a mere 86.89m throw while competing with heavyweights in Germany’s Johannes Vetter and Estonia’s Magnus Kirt.

Of course, enough is said and written about how Neeraj won his Olympic gold the subsequent year with an effort of 87.58m but 90m is somewhat has become an obsession for the fans. The same can’t be said about Neeraj, who has a more realistic approach.

“It is a magical mark, it’s a barrier, but let’s say I hit the 90m mark and do not win a medal, then what is the point?” Neeraj told reporters during a virtual press conference on Friday. “Winning a medal is the main thing, not the distance. I’m rather happy that I have been so consistent this season.”

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