Neeraj Chopra is still working on regaining full fitness from a lower back injury. He indicated in Glasgow on Friday that he was still not at his full fitness but slowly getting there.
The former Olympic and world champion finished second at the Commonwealth Games javelin final with a best throw of 85.83m. India’s achieved a memorable double podium finish, with Neeraj claiming silver and Yashvir Singh the bronze.
Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage produced a sensational performance to claim the gold medal with a best throw of 89.75m, achieved in his second attempt.
“I can’t say fitness is like before. But I’m getting there slowly. There is still time for the Asian Games. I will compete in Diamond League before that. There will be more improvement. Will improve slowly,” Neeraj said.
Neeraj said his comeback from injury has been satisfactory.
“Although we always want the national anthem to play, I did my season’s best and comeback is going okay, there are other competitions as well. I am happy,” he said.
“The weather was better than yesterday (during the qualifying round on Thursday). It was good at the start but later it became cold and there was wind.
“I also had a one go throw only, I thought it will go further but it didn’t fly. I thought I could have pushed myself further. I’m trying to get into my rhythm. I am not able to do that well in these conditions, I like hot weather … (I’m) Indian blood.”
Neeraj couldn’t hide his happiness with Yashvir’s performance.
“I’m really happy that Yashvir achieved a personal best (85.41m) at such a crucial moment. It feels great to be on the podium together,” he said.
Neeraj opened with a 80.97m before his second round throw of 85.83m which was his best of the day. His third and fourth attempts measured 81.29m and 80.73m, respectively while his last two throws were fouls.