Can Neeraj Chopra win an elusive Athletics medal for India at the Tokyo Olympics? 

On the 10th of April, a world-renowned US-based magazine for athletics 'Track and Field News' predicted a Tokyo Olympics silver medal for Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra in the article titled 'Olympic Men’s Medal Predictions #1'.

No Indian track and field athlete had even made it to that list before. Although this prediction may not be of great value to the boy from Panipat, it still provides us with some insight as to where Chopra currently stands in the world of javelin throwers.

The rise of Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra rose up the ranks quite swiftly after he smashed the world under-20 record in javelin with a throw of 86.48 meters at the World Junior Athletics Championships 2016.

The progress that Chopra has shown since then has been absolutely commendable. He has been one of the most consistent throwers on the circuit with an array of brilliant performances at various competitions across the globe.

Neeraj won his first gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in 2017 with a best effort of 85.23 meters. He backed this performance with an even more brilliant 2018 season when he won gold medals in both the Asian as well as the Commonwealth Games.

Neeraj Chopra broke his own national record from the 2018 Doha Diamond League meeting at the 2018 Asian Games with a brilliant throw of 88.06 meters. He was a consistent performer in the Diamond League series of 2017 and 2018, where he had an opportunity to compete against some of the best javelin throwers in the world.

Neeraj Chopra after his gold medal-winning performance at 2018 CWG.

Injury struggles, comeback and pandemic

Neeraj Chopra was out of competition for the whole of the 2019 season with an elbow injury. His path to recovery required him to be a patient spectator when the likes of Johannes Vetter of Germany, Magnus Kirt of Estonia and Anderson Peters of Grenada were lighting up the world of javelin with some brilliant performances. Neeraj weathered the 2019 storm very maturely, although many questions were raised regarding his form and fitness.

Cut to 2020, his first aim was to achieve the automatic qualification mark of 85 meters. Neeraj Chopra achieved this feat by throwing a brilliant 87.86 meters in a South African meet 'Athletics Central North East' held in Potchefstroom on 28th January 2020.

However, the rest of the 2020 season for Neeraj was cut short by the pandemic which meant that for the second straight year he could not face any significant competition.

Return to competition and travel issues

Neeraj Chopra began 2021 with a bang when he broke his own national record at the Indian Grand Prix event in Patiala, hurling the 800-gram javelin to a distance of 88.07 meters. After this, he won a gold medal at the Federation Cup with a best effort of 87.80 meters.

But since the Fed Cup 2021 in mid-March, the 23-year-old has not had any competition. The travel restrictions imposed on India by European countries meant that he would train behind the closed doors of NIS Patiala for the next three months.

The frustration of not being able to compete was writ large upon Neeraj's face and he addressed it in a recent media conference with the Sports Authority of India. His plea was heard by the Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju himself and all permissions regarding clearance of visa were done.

Currently, Neeraj Chopra is in Portugal and is slated to participate in various events before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He will first be in action at the Meeting Cidade de Lisboa (Meeting, City of Lisbon) on June 10.

The big question

The big question that every Indian fan will be asking today is 'Whether Neeraj Chopra is good enough to bring an Olympic medal back home?' The short answer to that would be that he is more than capable of doing it. Neeraj was the second-best javelin thrower in the world in the limited competition he got to participate in the COVID-struck 2020 season.

Currently, Neeraj Chopra is ranked third in 2021 behind Johannes Vetter and the Polish Marcin Krukowski. Meanwhile, Vetter has been trying to hunt down Jan Železný's world record. He has been throwing over 90 meters for fun with his best this season being recorded at 96.29 meters at the European Team Championships held in Silesia last month.

Needless to say, Vetter has been in a league of his own, although he suffered a mild niggle at the end of his 96.29 meters effort on 29th May and has been out of competition since.

Krukowski, too, found his best form just before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics when he launched the javelin to a distance of 89.55 meters at the Paavo Nurmi Games held in the Finnish city of Turku on 8th June.

89.55m ‼️@mkrukowski throws Polish javelin record and comes agonisingly close to 90-metre-mark!#ContinentalTourGold pic.twitter.com/DKfEbI8BE8

— Continental Tour Gold (@ContiTourGold) June 8, 2021

As far as Neeraj goes, some of his major competitors, such as Germany's Thomas Röhler and Andreas Hofmann, Estonian Magnus Kirt, 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott and 2019 world champion Anderson Peters, have not been in great shape. Neeraj, however, himself has been in the shape of his life. It's just that he has not had any major competition, which makes it all that more difficult to gauge where exactly he stands.

Although Neeraj Chopra has had his share of injuries and bad luck, he is surely on his way to achieving glory at the Tokyo Olympics. He just needs to maintain good form and not let the Olympic pressure get the better of him. If Neeraj takes care of all these variables, he will surely bring home that elusive athletics medal for India from the Tokyo Games.