As a result of being praised by legendary American athlete Michael Jordan, Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra has now revealed that he plans on participating in sprints this year. Johnson was captivated by Neeraj’s athleticism and movement. In a video posted by the former American sprinter, he wrote, “He is a javelin thrower! Olympic champion, but also a javelin thrower with sprinter/jumper movements!”
India’s ace javelin thrower, Neeraj, responded immediately. He thanked Johnson and said, “Now that I’ve received your approval, I’ll check the sprint calendar.”
During the video, Neeraj can be seen going through warm-up drills ahead of his return to competitive action.
The year 2022 had certainly been a memorable one for Neeraj. He became the second Indian athlete to clinch a medal at the World Championship. As India’s first male track and field athlete to win a medal at the showpiece event, Neeraj won a precious silver medal with an impressive throw of 88.13 meters.
As a result of his victory in Zurich in September 2022, Neeraj also became the first Indian athlete to win the Diamond League. He achieved the sensational feat by recording an 88.44 meters second throw. In winning the championship, Neeraj beat Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, the 2016 Diamond League champion and Tokyo 2020 silver medalist.
In total, Neeraj had participated in six events in 2022. He also set two national records.
He was unable to participate in the Commonwealth Games due to his groin injury, and he was unable to participate in the National Games because of his fitness issues as well.
