Athletics
Neeraj recovers from adductor niggle, he's undergoing intense training: Bartonietz
In May this year, reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra skipped the Ostrava Golden Spike due to an adductor niggle.
Neeraj Chopra won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics 2024. (Credit: Under Armour)
Paris Olympics-bound Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has recovered from adductor niggle and is looking good and fit to defend his gold medal, said his German coach Klaus Bartonietz, ruling out any concern about the star Indian athlete's fitness.
"Everything is according to plan. At the moment, no issue with that (adductor niggle), it's fine, it looks good, hoping to remain like that till the Olympics," Bartonietz told PTI.
"It's just over two weeks left in the Olympics, so the intensity of training is high. He is having full throwing sessions," he added.
The men's javelin throw event at the forthcoming Paris Olympics is scheduled to start on August 6 and the final will be played two days later.
The concerns about his fitness had been there since May this year. Neeraj competed in only three events in 2024. He opened his season at the Doha Diamond League in May where he finished second.
He followed it up by winning the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar, and he has been out of the field since June 18, the last time he competed at an event at Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland.
Talking about Neeraj's preparations for the Olympics, Bartonietz said, "You can compete in many events or not, it's tough to say what is enough (number of events). It depends on the situation. Jan Zelezny (Czech legend and world record holder) says he does not compete in too many events (just two before 1992 Olympics where he won gold)."
The coach also said that participating in too many events could disrupt the preparations of an athlete.
"Competitions sometimes disrupt preparation and you start all over again. Competing in high class events can become risky also. Travelling too much with logistics, with javelins around the world, is also not good," Bartonietz said, emphasising, "He has prepared and trained well."
In May, Neeraj issued a clarification after the media reported that he skipped the Ostrava Golden Spike 2024 athletics meet due to an injury.
“Hello everyone! Following a recent throwing session, I decided not to compete in Ostrava as I felt something in my adductor,” Neeraj stated in an Instagram story.
“I have had problems with it in the past and pushing it at this stage can lead to injury. Just to clarify I am not injured but I don’t want to take any risk during the Olympic year so had to take this decision," he said.
“Once I feel it’s fully recovered, I will get back to competitions. Thank you for your support," Neeraj added.
After winning the Olympic gold in 2021, Neeraj created another history by becoming the first Indian athlete to win a World Championships gold last year. He also defended his Asian Games yellow metal in Hangzhou.
