Athletics
World-renowned athletics magazine 'Track & Field News' predicts silver medal for Neeraj Chopra in Tokyo Olympics
One of the world's most renowned magazines for athletics, Track & Field News has predicted a silver medal for Neeraj Chopra at the Tokyo Olympics.
With less than three months to go for the Tokyo Olympics, speculations have been pouring out from left, right, and centre for who will bring medals from the Indian contingent. While India's shooting team is being touted as one of the biggest medal hopes, many are resting faith in the country's ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra. With his consistently good performances, he has emerged as a big ray of hope to be the first Indian sportsperson to win a medal in athletics.
It is going by the same set of performances, one of the world's most renowned magazines for athletics, Track & Field News has predicted a silver medal for Neeraj Chopra. In their article titled 'Olympic Men's Medal Prediction #1' the US-based magazine has predicted a silver medal for Neeraj in the men's javelin throw event at the Tokyo Olympics. Alongside Neeraj, they have predicted a gold medal for Germany's Johannes Vetter and bronze for Anderson Peters of Grenada.
There has been much talk about Neeraj Chopra over the past four-five years. He has broken multiple records, been a victor at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the World Junior Championship. Neeraj has seen a significant jump in his throwing distance since he began competing a few years ago. He recently broke his own national mark by 0.01 m with a throw of 88.07m at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala this past month, which is definitely a good sign considering he had undergone surgery in between.
Moreover, he has come a long way since 2018, where his throws have gone from an average of 82m to a consistent average of about 85m. The aim would now be to breach the 90m mark in the coming months and build on the impressive throws taken at the national events.
Meanwhile, Vetter has been able to breach the 90m mark by throwing an incredible 91.50m on April 24, 2021. Peters has thrown a highest of 82.72m which came in April as well. Keeping a tally with all the records created in recent times, Neeraj has realistic chances to finish on the podium.
Track & Field News is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field. The magazine provides coverage of athletics in the United States from the high school to the national level as well as covering the sport on an international basis. The magazine has given itself the motto of "The Bible of the Sport".