India’s star javelin player Neeraj Chopra will not compete at the Asian Games this year following an injury. Chopra announced his decision on social media on Saturday, saying that he suffered an ankle injury, ankle ligament tear during the training session shortly after the Lausanne Diamond League. The star thrower said he had discussed the injury with the doctor and his team, however, before deciding to sit out of the rest of the season.
In his social media post, Neeraj Chopra said, “Unfortunately, shortly after, I sustained a ligament tear in my ankle during training. After discussions with my doctor and team, we’ve decided that I will sit out the rest of this season. It’s disappointing, especially because I felt close to finding my rhythm. But as they say, setbacks are a part of the journey.” “My focus now is on recovering well and coming back even stronger.”
The injury would also keep the two times Olympic champion out of the Diamond League finals in Brussels on September 5 and the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest from September 11 to 13. The injury brings an unexpected end to Neeraj’s campaign this year, considering he had recently started to hit peak after a couple of injury-riddled years.
Neeraj was in and out of the recent Diamond League primarily because of his lower back injury that troubled him since September last year. Despite not being fit to Tokyo Olympics golden boy, won a silver medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games with a throw of 85.83 meters before registering the season’s best at 88.05 meters at Lausanne Diamond League.