Neeraj Chopra recently won a historic silver medal for India at the World Athletics Championship, but it came at a cost. After registering three below-par throws, in a bid to push himself, Chopra may have sustained an injury during his fourth attempt.
The 24-year-old was subsequently ruled out of Commonwealth Games 2022 on Tuesday, amid reports of his injury issue, two days before the beginning of the multi-sport spectacle in Birmingham.
"Neeraj Chopra will not take part in Commonwealth Games 2022. He is not fit as he got injured in the finals of the World Athletic Championship. He informed us about this,” Rajeev Mehta, Secretary General of the IOA confirmed to news agency ANI.
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Earlier, Chopra gave an injury scare to his fans, revealing that he had actually felt something on his thigh after his silver-medal clinching throw. It indeed turned out to be true, as the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist had to pull out of CWG 2022.
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Speaking about the discomfort on his thigh, after winning the silver medal at World Championship, Neeraj had said, "I thought even the fourth throw could have gone farther. After that, I felt something on my thigh and could not do my best in next two. I had strapping (on thigh). I will know the status tomorrow morning because my body is still warm after the event. I hope there should not be any issue for the upcoming events, Commonwealth Games."
Unfortunately, what the Haryana-born athlete feared came to be true. This come as a huge blow for the Indian contingent at the Birmingham games, as Chopra was expected to bring home a gold medal in Javelin, having done so at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, in Goldcoast.
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Ever since winning a historic gold medal for India at the Tokyo Olympics, Chopra became a household name, and he continued his medal-winning streak after the Olympics, by winning medals at the Paavo Nurmi Games, and performed admirably in the Stockholm Diamond League, shattering the national record with a throw of 89.94m.
