"I was trying to outdo myself": Sachin Yadav on competing alongside Neeraj Chopra at World Athletics C'ships

By Sahil Kohli

New Delhi [India], September 22 (ANI): Following his breakthrough fourth-place finish at the recently-concluded World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where he featured alongside Neeraj Chopra in the men’s javelin throw competition, Indian javelin thrower Sachin Yadav said that he was “competing with himself” during the competition and felt really bad about the superstar athlete finishing eighth in his world title defence.

During the men’s javelin event recently during the World Championships in Tokyo, Sachin impressed with a fourth-place finish and best throw of 86.27 m, his personal best throw. He was even in contention for a medal at one point. However, it was a tough day at the office for Neeraj, who could register an underwhelming best throw of 84.03 m during his title defence to finish eighth, ending his streak of top-two finishes lasting 26 events.

Speaking to ANI, Sachin said about his performance, “I feel very happy with my performance. It was not like I beat Neeraj, he was injured. He was injured and could have thrown better. I competed with myself. It was not like I was trying to outdo someone; I was trying to compete with myself and outdo myself.”

The 25-year-old admitted that it felt “weird” to him witnessing Neeraj not being at the podium and even called him, and Neeraj took his rare setback in a sporting way.

“I felt weird. It was the first time I saw him out of the podium since I started playing. I felt bad. I called him and told him that I felt bad that you were not on the podium. He told me that it is okay, it is sports, ups and downs happen,” he said.

Recently in a media interview, Neeraj’s former coach Uwe Hohn, who is the only one to throw the javelin beyond 100 m with a throw of 104.80 m had said that “Sachin could throw upto 95 m and dominate the sport like him and Jan Zelezny (Neeraj’s current coach).”

Speaking on the same, Sachin said, “If such a massive thrower is saying this about me, it is a matter of pride. I am trying to do my best.”

On his preparations for the Asian Games taking place in Japan next year, Sachin said that nothing has been decided, and his coach and federation will plan it.

Sachin admitted that the competition in the Indian javelin scene is growing.

“There is a lot of competition in javelin. Youngsters are delivering great performances. Neeraj gave us a benchmark that touches the 90-m mark, and you all take it further. It is upto us to take the mark much further,” he concluded.

Race walker Servin Sebastian finished in 31st spot in the men’s 20 km race walk to conclude India’s campaign at the World Athletics Championships without a medal on Saturday.

Sebastian was the last Indian in action during the Championships, finishing with a time of 1:23:03 in a 48-man field, as per Olympics.com. After Neeraj Chopra’s historic silver at the 2022 edition and a monumental gold in 2023, India has failed to secure a medal in the World Athletics Championships after two editions.

India had sent a 19-member contingent for the Tokyo World Championships to compete for medals across 15 events. The biggest highlight was Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic gold medalist, failing to defend his world title in javelin throw and finishing at eighth spot with the best throw of 84.03 m, ending his 26-event streak of top two finishes. His compatriot Sachin Yadav outclassed him with a fourth-place finish and fell short of a medal with the best throw of 86.27 m.

Also, Sarvesh Kushare made history, becoming the first Indian jumper to qualify for the finals of the World Athletics Championships in his discipline and finished in sixth place with a personal best timing of 2.28m.

Pooja also secured her career-best timings of 2:01.03 in the women’s 800m, but with a bottom-place finish in her heats, she failed to reach the finals.

Indian athletes have secured only three medals in the history of World Para Athletics Championships, with Anju Bobby George becoming the first Indian to claim a medal back in 2003 in the long jump, a bronze medal. Neeraj became the first male medalist at the championships 19 years later with a silver in javelin throw. Then, in the next edition, he became the first Indian to secure the world championship gold at Budapest in 2023, with the best throw of 88.17 m. (ANI)

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