Neeraj set to shine at Paris Olympics, claims coach

Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is in best physical condition to claim a medal at the Paris Games, said Spencer Mackay, the head of strength and conditioning at Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS).

The 26-year-old Indian, who had undergone rehabilitation at IIS for an elbow injury before winning the Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021, has been troubled by an adductor niggle for the past couple of months.

Chopra is not participating in Sunday's Paris Diamond League and will straight away compete at the Olympics.

Mackay said he is "keeping a close track of him."

"He is in excellent physical condition and well-prepared," Mackay said in an interview with PTI videos.

"His past injuries and recent niggles are now an afterthought. When the Olympic finals begin, Neeraj will be in a fantastic position to win another medal for the country."

The Olympic and World champion Chopra had returned to competitions in June after a month-long break to fetch his maiden gold medal at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland. He had finished second at the Doha Diamond League in May.

Chopra also participated at the National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar, where he secured the gold medal.

"For an athlete, it is not warranted to perform at the best all the time, especially for athletes like Neeraj who compete at the highest level. But his plan is very clear: to keep himself fit, strong, and well-balanced to give his best shot at the Olympics."

The Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS) here has been a go-to place for various Indian athletes over the years for injury recovery and rehabilitation.

Spencer, who has been at the state-of-the-art facility since its inception, pointed out that sports science and rehabilitation are vital components of modern athletic training, playing a pivotal role in enhancing performance, preventing injuries, and promoting effective recovery.

"India has a lot of scope to enhance the performance of their athletes which will result in better results."

"As long as the scope for sports training supplemented with sports science, development of coaches, the scope for India to massively increase the medal haul come the next Olympics games is going to be clear."

Talking about the rehab programs, he said: "Our elite performers train offsite but our main focus is to tailor rehab programs based on the situation and the injury sustained based on the data we have about them. "We also have in mind the psychological aspect of an athlete suffering a specific injury and the way he or she suffered it in mind.”

"If we have more contact with them, we can do more based on the capability of the athlete and how much we have been able to expose him or her to development over time being a key component of the rehabilitation process during the injury situation."

"But regardless we are happy to be in a situation where we have been able to affect athlete rehabilitation in a positive way and to see them returning back to the performance level they had before, is an incredibly rewarding position."