"Maybe he will reach the 90m mark before me" - Neeraj Chopra on Kishore Jena's progress and competing with him at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Neeraj Chopra believes Kishore Kumar Jena has made good progress in recent years and he was looking forward to competing with him at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Kishore put together some strong performances last year. At the World Championships, he managed to finish fifth. Later at the Asian Games, he won a silver medal thanks to a personal best 87.54m effort and shared the podium with champion Neeraj.

In doing so, he also breached the 85.5m mark set for Paris Olympics qualification.

When asked about the possibility of India having two athletes on the podium in Paris, Neeraj stated that it would be a dream come true.

"It will be a dream come true if India has not one but two on the podium. It happened at the Asian Games. But if it happens at the Olympics, it will be fantastic, it will give everyone a lot more satisfaction. We will see how it pans out, there is still a lot of time," he said during a press conference.

"I am sure Kishore is working very hard to do well. He will throw well, he works hard and is a good guy," he added.

The 26-year-old also praised Kishore for the way he had performed at the big-ticket events in the last year, even suggesting that the Odisha native could even become the first Indian to breath the 90m mark.

"Kishore’s progression since last year has been good. World Championships, Asian Games and more. He has improved his throws. I have been stuck between 88 and 90 for a while now. The way Kishore is performing, who knows, maybe he will reach the 90m mark before me?" he suggested.

Before the Olympics, the two are set to be in action in Doha, which will be the first time two Indians will be taking part in the javelin throw event in the Diamond League.

"It will be good to compete with Kishore at the Diamond League. We have done so at the World Championships and the Asian Games. It will be the first time that two Indians will be competing in the Diamond League. It will be fun," Neeraj Chopra added.

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Neeraj Chopra: "We have to prepare our minds to perform in all weather conditions"

Neeraj Chopra at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Over the years, the Diamond League event in Doha has seen several big throws from various athletes. With this year's event set to get underway on May 10, Neeraj Chopra stated that there were two big reasons why big throws are a comment feature in Qatar's capital city.

"The big throws [in Doha] happen because sometimes there wind makes a difference. If we find a rhythm there and depending on which side we throw from… Last time, the side I was throwing from [in Doha] had a lot of headwinds. We shall see how it fares this time," he said.

"Normally it is at the start of a season, so everyone is fresh and ready to compete. That’s also why the performances are better in Doha," he added.

With weather conditions being one of the talking points at the Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj stated that he has no issues dealing with hot weather, barring excessive sweating.

"[The heat] for Indians is fine, we can deal with it. In Paris, maybe there will be some heat. Personally, the heat does not affect me, besides the excessive sweating and wet clothes," he disclosed.

The 26-year-old stated that he finds it more difficult to deal with cold weather.

"Cold weather is a problem for me, especially in Europe, when it’s cold after the rain... That troubles me a bit. Then, the time between our throws is spent warming ourselves, keep doing some activity to keep the body warm," he added.

That said, Neeraj Chopra made it clear that he was prepared to perform his best even in adverse conditions.

"In the end, we have to be prepared for any conditions. Several times I have done well when there was a lot of wind or rain. We have to prepare our minds to perform in all weather conditions," Neeraj Chopra said.