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Johannes Vetter landed in Gateshead (for the Diamond League) on Tuesday with the hopes of breaking the 25-year-old world record. But he could not even manage a 90-plus throw, let alone challenge Jan Zelezny’s 98.48m record. Johannes Vetter’s dip in performance so close to the Tokyo Olympics is a sigh of relief for India’s Neeraj Chopra.
Johannes Vetter, 28, will enter the Tokyo Olympics as the gold medal favorite. The German javelin is the only athlete to register a 90-plus this year. He threw 96.29m for his event at the European Team Championships in May. Johannes Vetter came close to Zelezny’s world record last year when he threw an impressive 97.76m.
At the Gateshead Diamond League, however, it was not Johannes Vetter’s day. Despite having hopes of at least challenging the meet record of Steve Backley’s 90.81m, he threw just 85.25m.
Although the throw was enough to seal a victory for the 6ft 1inch German, it was not his best performance in the past two years. Much is credited to the conditions that were not ideal on Tuesday.
READ: Neeraj Chopra focusing on finer points ahead of Tokyo Olympics
It was humid in Gateshead during the competition which heavily affected Johannes Vetter’s performance. He saw a dip of 8.34m from his gold medal-winning throw of 93.59m at the Kourtane Games two weeks ago.
What does Johannes Vetter’s performance mean for Neeraj Chopra
Japan is predicted to be hot and humid during the Tokyo Olympics. While Johannes Vetter struggled to adapt to it, Neeraj Chopra would love to perform in such conditions.
In fact, it was in similar conditions that India’s medal hopeful bagged gold at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. He threw a 88.06m.
READ: How Shekhar Kumar Pandey pole-vaulted from a small farm in Mirzapur to a gold medal at nationals
India’s woman javelin thrower and Tokyo Olympic-bound Annu Rani put the claim in context.
“Javelin is a very technical event. It mostly depends on how your body works on that particular day. The humid conditions will certainly favor us more. I very well remember that at the 2019 World Championships, many athletes from Europe were not able to cope up with the hot and humid conditions of Doha,” she said.
Neeraj Chopra registered his season best at the Indian Grand Prix in Patiala in March. He threw 88.07m to set a new national record. It is also the fourth best this year.
If the conditions in Japan remain similar to Gateshead, Johannes Vetter will face a serious challenge from Neeraj Chopra.
For now, the German is unfazed by his performance and believes a world record is a possibility at the Tokyo Olympics.
“The world record is possible in Tokyo,” Vetter said. “You can't plan throws though and if it happens, it happens. The first goal is staying healthy, getting the gold medal and then I think about the world record,” he said after the win.
Beside Neeraj Chopra, Johannes Vetter will face challenge from Poland’s Marcin Krukowski and Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott.
READ: Who can stop India’s Neeraj Chopra from winning an Olympic medal?
