Neeraj ends season with Brussels second spot, and hand fracture

Mumbai: During the Paris Olympics, Neeraj Chopra jokingly spoke about having to ask his team to put out statements on social media regarding his pull-outs from tournaments. “Chalo, ek accha sa message banate hai (let’s put out a nice message),” Neeraj said, chuckling.

His latest social media post on Sunday wasn’t about that. It was about looking back at the 2024 season, while also revealing that he had suffered a fracture on the metacarpal bone of his left hand five days before his final competitive outing of the year.

And yet, Neeraj turned up to compete in the Diamond League Final in Brussels on Saturday. And yet, Neeraj managed to dish out a best throw of 87.86m to finish behind Grenadian Anderson Peters. And yet, Neeraj felt, like he has for a large part of the season, that he did not “meet my own expectations”.

Pretty much sums up the season that was for India’s two-time Olympic medallist javelin thrower. One where he signed off with a second-place finish in the prestigious season-ending event in which, for the first time, two Indians earned the right to merely participate – steeplechaser Avinash Sable was the other. One where he often fell agonisingly short, either of the top spot in meets or of the coveted 90m mark. One where he did not finish outside the top two in any event but still drew curtains on it with a sense of underachievement.

In Brussels, wearing a wrist band on his non-throwing left hand, the Paris Olympics silver medallist had to play catch up after the first round of throws, in which Peters delivered 87.87m and Neeraj 86.82m. A quieter second attempt later, the Indian cranked it up for a bigger throw of 87.86m. He was still one centimetre short of Peters’ benchmark. It remained that way until the end.

Neeraj then wrote on social media that he had injured himself during Monday’s training, with the X-ray posted by him confirming a fracture on the fourth metacarpal — also known as palm bones, they connect the fingers and the wrist — of his left hand.

“It was another painful challenge for me. But with the help of my team, I was able to participate in Brussels,” Neeraj said. “This was the last competition of the year, and I wanted to end my season on the track.”

“Another painful challenge” is another reminder of the physical limitations that have held Neeraj back on the track of late, despite which he continues to be the epitome of consistency in Indian sport. He spoke about it at length and with frankness after the 89.45m silver show in Paris that was bettered by Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem on the night.

The recurring groin issue, which he said has kept him company since 2017, has increasingly troubled him over the last couple of years and derailed him from digging out bigger throws.

That “fear of injury”, as he put it, has made him miss a higher number of competitive meets, restricted the volume of throws in training sessions, made his upper body and arms take the bulk of the load in his throwing motion without the blocking leg fully complementing it, and held him from using the momentum of the full runway.

And yet, Neeraj dished out three 89m-plus efforts this year, two of them just shy of his 2022 personal best (89.94m). A couple of weeks after last month’s Olympics, Neeraj threw 89.49m at the Lausanne Diamond League followed by an animated reaction that reflected his season defined by second place finishes and nearly-there feelings. In all, Neeraj has had four second spots this year — at the season-opening Doha DL, where his 88.36m was two centimetres short of Jakub Vadlejch, Paris Olympics, Lausanne DL and the DL Final — to go with top finishes at the Paavo Nurmi Games and the Federation Cup, his first post-Tokyo Games domestic appearance.

“While I couldn’t meet my own expectations, I feel this was a season in which I learned a lot,” Neeraj said.

This was a season where Neeraj pushed himself and his body while testing its limit. The Indian had hinted in Paris that he could look at going under the knife to find a more long-term solution to fix the groin issue. Doctors had advised surgery last year too, he said, but a packed calendar didn’t allow for it.

Now could be the time to hit reset, because the next major competition is the 2025 World Championships in September. Also because Neeraj has no doubt that he has bigger throws in his tank — 90m and beyond.

“Khainch raha hoon abhi (I’m pushing myself currently),” Chopra had said in Paris. “The distance that I believe I have inside me... until I don’t get that, shaanti nahi mil payegi (I won’t be at peace).”

For now, with the 2024 season done, the two-time Olympic medallist can finally pause and take stock. Neeraj promises to return “fully fit and ready to go”.

“2024 has made me a better athlete and person,” he said. “See you in 2025.”