Omicron virus has put on hold India’s Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra’s off-season tour of South Africa

Men’s javelin throw Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra’s off-season training plan for next month in South Africa looks doubtful due to the outbreak of Omicron virus earlier this month.

The 23-year-old was expected to practice in the South African city of Potchefstroom from the first week of December to prepare for the highly competitive 2022 season.

However, the three-month off-season tour from December until February 2022 is currently under review because of the recent outbreak of a new variant of COVID-19 in South Africa, as per a senior official of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

“We are assessing the current situation in Potchefstroom," the AFI official said. "Neeraj’s off-season training plan was supposed to start from December’s first week in South Africa, but due to outbreak of Omicron virus in the African continent, the plan is under review now. At the moment it is also uncertain whether he (Neeraj) will go for off-season training to any other country.”

There is a concern about Neeraj’s practice being frequently disrupted in Patiala as the Olympic champion has certain commitments to attend functions, including family. To maintain steady practice sessions, the AFI had planned to send him abroad for training.

The national preparatory camp in Patiala started in the second week of October, but Neeraj joined late due to personal reasons.

As per original plans, he was supposed to fly out to South Africa in early December and return to India at the end of February or early March. The Indian domestic track and field competitions will start from March 2022.

After competing in domestic competitions, the Olympic champion was supposed to go to Europe for a training-cum-competition tour.

Neeraj's main focus for the 2022 season is to crack the 90-meter barrier in javelin apart from defending his titles at the Commonwealth and Asian Games scheduled to be held in August and September, respectively.

Neeraj’s personal best and national record of 88.07m was recorded during a domestic competition earlier this year in Patiala. During the Tokyo Olympics, his gold-medal winning throw was 87.58m.

As per AFI's plan, Neeraj will also compete in the Diamond League starting in Doha from May and July 15-22 Eugene World Athletics Championships in USA.