It's just a matter of time before Neeraj crosses the 90m mark: Anju

BENGALURU: The chatter around Neeraj Chopra and the possibility of throwing the spear beyond the magical 90m mark becomes a talking point after every international meet. He registered a throw of 89.49 – his second-best career throw -- last week at the Diamond League in Lausanne after clinching the Paris silver with a 89.45m throw.
After his throw of 89.94 in June 2022, Neeraj breaching the 90m mark became a huge possibility.However, the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist has been throwing the javelin beyond the 88m mark on a consistent basis without getting to the magical mark. The hope still lingers on and the Athletics Federation of India vice-president Anju Bobby George believes it is just a "matter of time" before the World Champion crosses the magical mark.
"Neeraj will be keen to set his best above the 90m mark. Most of his throws this year have been around 88, 89 and close to 90 mark. That shows he is very consistent, which is a hallmark of a great athlete. The 90m mark will come and I think he must be achieving that mark in training too. It is within his range and it is just a matter of time before he can produce that in competitions," Anju, 2003 Worlds bronze and 2002 Asian Games gold medalist in long jump.
With the top bunch of throwers currently, including Arshad Nadeem, who beat Chopra for gold, Anderson Peters and Jakub Vadlejch among others having crossed the 90m mark in their careers, there will be pressure on the Indian to achieve the 90m mark sooner than later. His last two events (at Paris and Lausanne) have seen him come close to the 90m mark, and Anju believes that the two-time Olympic medalist achieved that despite the groin injury.
"The competition in javelin is at the elite level and strong competitors will also push him. We must remember that he achieved all these throws (Paris Games and Lausanne, DL) despite the injury problem. That is why I think he has not been able to go all out, but still he came close to the 90m mark," she concluded.