Bharat’s javelin stars will kick off the outdoor season at the Doha leg of the Diamond League on May 10 with a new sense of ‘belief’. Leading the challenge will be world and Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra and his comrade-in-arm, Kishore Jena.
The events, including the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar on May 14-15, leading to Paris 2024 will also evaluate the returns from some intense overseas training under top coaches.
Chopra and Jena, who produced a historic gold-silver finish at the Hangzhou Asian Games, have both qualified for the upcoming Summer Olympics in July-August, but Chopra, the poster boy of Bharatiya athletics, believes a third javelin thrower – DP Manu – should make the Paris cut as well.
‘There was a time when I was not even sure of qualifying for a world championship but see how times have changed. In Budapest last year, we had three Bharatiyas (out of the top six) in the finals and that has made us believe we are no less than the Europeans who have dominated world javelin for so long. We have to take this Budapest belief forward and in Paris anything is possible,” said Chopra in an interview.
Manu DP is in line to join Chopra and Jena in Paris 2024. Manu is yet to breach the qualifying standard of 85.50 metres but is placed comfortably in the 11th spot in the Road to Paris rankings. That should be enough to earn him a ticket to Paris unless several others pass him and he is unable to improve his own distance.
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