'Neeraj Chopra Will Throw 93M In One Or Two Years': Devendra Jhajharia Makes Huge Claim On India's Star Javelin Thrower

Legendary para-athlete Devendra Jhajharia has reckoned that it's just a matter of time before Neeraj Chopra breaks the elusive 90m mark after inching closer toward it in the last few months. Neeraj won the silver medal after throwing at a distance of 89.45m as Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem bagged the gold medal in the men's javelin final of the recently concluded Paris Olympics 2024. Neeraj was again seen in action at the Lausanne Diamond League, where he finished at the second position.

Neeraj didn't have a great start but then recorded his second-best throw of 89.49m and finished in the second position after Anderson Peters. During an interaction with PTI, Jhajharia said that the youngster would breach the elusive mark by at least three or four meters. He revealed that Neeraj would be throwing at the distance of 92 or 93m when he breaks that elusive mark and would achieve this feat in the upcoming years.

"If I say in the language of javelin throw, 89-plus has become a barrier for Neeraj currently. I have seen in my sporting career of 20 years when a barrier is broken it does not break by just a mere meter or so, but by 3 to 4 meters," Jhajharia was quoted as saying to PTI.

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"When Neeraj does that, he will not throw just 90-plus, his javelin will go 3-4 meters farther. Please remember my words. So, Neeraj will throw 92m to 93m when the barrier is broken. He should do it in one or two years," he revealed.

Hoping Neeraj will peak when he is 28 or 29

Jhajharia also emphasized that the age factor worked in Neeraj's favor and that he would reach his peak when he turned 28 or 29.

"Age is in his favor, 26 is no age and I am hoping that he will be at his peak when he is 28 or 29. By then, he will do his best. He is very disciplined and very dedicated. I have seen that when we trained together in 2022 in Finland," he concluded.

Neeraj will now be seen in action in the Zurich Diamond League and the Diamond League final, which will be held next month.