“Not injured, decided not to compete as I felt….”: Neeraj Chopra on Ostrava Golden Spike withdrawal

New Delhi [India], May 26 (ANI): Following reports of him getting injured, India’s Olympic and World Championship gold medalist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra said that he is not injured but rather decided to pull out of the Ostrava Golden Spike competition after feeling something in his adductor and not wanting to face a potential injury with the Paris Olympics coming in two months.

Earlier, the Olympics.com had reported that Neeraj pulled himself out of the Ostrava Golden Spike 2024 athletics meet in the Czech Republic due to an injury. The event is set to take place on May 28.

However, Neeraj took to Instagram and clarified that he is not injured, but he felt something in his adductor. Not wanting to risk his body and face an injury ahead of the Paris Olympics starting from July 26 this year, he has decided to withdraw from the competition and will not play any competitions until he feels fully okay.

“Hello everyone! Following a recent throwing session, I decided not to compete in Ostrava as I felt something in my adductor. I have had problems with it in the past and pushing it at this stage can lead to injury. Just to clarify, I am not injured but I do not want to take any risk during the Olympic year so had to take this decision. Once I feel it’s fully recovered, I will get back to competitions. Thank you for your support,” said Neeraj on Instagram.

This marks the second successive year that Neeraj had to pull out of the Ostrava Golden Spike. He was also listed to compete last year but failed to make it due to a muscle injury.

The Ostrava meet was supposed to be Neeraj Chopra’s third competitive outing of the season.

Before the start of the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024, Neeraj started his season at the Doha Diamond League on May 11 and ended in second place with a throw of 88.36m.

Recently, Chopra competed at the Federation Cup athletics meet in Bhubaneswar on May 15 and won the gold medal in his first competitive outing in India since 2021. The ace javelin thrower logged a stunning throw of 82.27m to beat Manu DP at the Kalinga Stadium. This was his first domestic competition after his gold medal win in the Tokyo Olympics back in 2021.

Neeraj Chopra is listed to compete in the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland’s Turku next on June 18.