Paris 2024 Olympics: 3 reasons why Neeraj Chopra can replicate his heroics from Tokyo 2020

India won a total of seven medals at the Tokyo Olympics. These include two silver medals and four bronze medals. The only gold which India grabbed in that edition came through India's current golden boy - Neeraj Chopra. This time out he is yet another favorite from the Indian contingent to secure a gold medal and there is an out and out chance for the 26-year-old to breach his personal best and the national record.

Today, we will look at three reasons why Chopra can replicate the glittering feat from the previous Summer Games.

#1 Has kept himself in shape

Neeraj Chopra was the only Indian to win a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The javelin thrower has been in fine form in recent times and also avoided certain competitions when he felt even the slightest of niggles in his body. This cautiousness is a proof of how serious he is to defend the feat he achieved just three years back.

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#2 Fine form

Neeraj Chopra's form in 2023 and also during 2024 until now has been nothing short of exceptional. The last 'big and notable' achievement in Chopra's career was his gold medal at the 2023 World Championships, but there are some other achievements too. He achieved a first place in the Doha leg of the Diamond League last year, bettering his own record from the 2022 Stockholm leg. This also led to him topping the world rankings for the first time.

Moreover, he also achieved a first spot in the Lausanne leg of the Diamond League, before bagging a gold in the World Athletics Championships (javelin).

2024 is another year where his fine form continued. He secured a second spot in the Doha Diamond League with a throw of 88.36m and then won gold medals at the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar and Paavo Nurmi Games.

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#3 Hungry to breach the 90m mark

Neeraj Chopra's personal best and the current national record is 89.94m, a throw which came from his hand back in 2022 at the Stockholm Diamond League. His throw at the Tokyo Games was 87.58m. However, he is not happy with that. India's golden boy has his eyes set on breaching the 90m mark, a feat which has never been achieved by any Indian. Who knows? May be at the Paris Olympics, his shaft will register this distance!