Tokyo Olympics | The idea was to qualify in the first throw itself, says Neeraj Chopra

The 23-year-old javelin thrower says he was was pleased with his release angle and follow through.

Neeraj Chopra’s alarm went off at 5:15 a.m. on Wednesday. The 23-year-old javelin thrower does not usually wake up this early to compete. But when he stepped onto the track at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, he had one goal – to let that javelin soar and qualify for the final of the event. Twenty strides, a leap, and a grunt later, he booked his spot in the javelin throw final of the Tokyo Olympics. Neeraj unleashed his best in his very first attempt in Group A to set a qualification high of 86.65m. He comfortably went past the automatic qualification mark of 83.50m and that was it. Done in about 12 seconds. “The idea was to do well in warm-up throws and then qualify in the first throw itself,” he said. “My first warm-up throw was not good, but the next one felt better. There was a slightly different feeling in my throws, but I knew that I would be able to hit the mark today,” he said and paused to watch Johannes Vetter’s final throw. Germany's Vetter, the favourite for the gold medal, threw a best of 85.64m. He did not get past the automatic qualifying mark in his first two throws (82.04m and 82.08m).