What goes into the making of a javelin champion? The skills and training required | Tokyo Olympics News – Times of India

He also became only the second Indian to win an individual gold at the Olympics. Abhinav Bindra won a gold medal in the 10m air Rifle event at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Social media was abuzz with the incredible effort that Neeraj put in in Tokyo. And there were searches galore. Apart from Neeraj Chopra, Neeraj Chopra gold, Neeraj Chopra height, and weight, Neeraj Chopra family, and Neeraj Chopra medal ceremony, many searched “Javelin throw career” on the internet search bars.

Neeraj’s Tokyo glory will inspire a lot of youngsters to take up javelin throw as a career. Neeraj’s journey wasn’t easy and the 23-year-old walked a tough path, worked hard, and made many sacrifices to attain glory.

So what are the different aspects of javelin throw? Here’s a look at the skills, training, and the role of coaches that goes into building a truly effective javelin thrower.

JAVELIN:
WEIGHT & HEIGHT (Men’s javelin): The men’s javelin(spear) must weigh at least 800g and should be 2.6m-2.7m long
WEIGHT & HEIGHT (Women’s javelin): The women’s javelin (spear) must weigh 600g and should be 2.2m-2.3m long.

SKILLS: GRIP, RUN-UP, THROW, AND CROSSLINE
Hold the grip, place the javelin up near your head and start running towards your target with the javelin in hand. The javelin should be parallel to your shoulders. Take the run-up and throw it with full force. One must not cross the foul line. If you touch the cross line while throwing or landing onto the ground, the throw will be declared as a foul throw.

TRAINING: BALANCE AND ROLE OF A COACH
Javelin is a very technical sport. The balance between the arm, shoulders, head position and run up play an important role. Apart from the technique, core and upper body strength are very necessary for the sport.
It has three phases: the run-up, the transition, and the delivery. For these, one should have a good coach and trainer to avoid injuries and physical damage.
RECORD HOLDERS:
The four-time Olympic medallist Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic holds the world record with a throw of 98.48 m in the men’s category. He achieved the milestone during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
In the women’s category, Czech Republic’s Barbora Spotakova holds the world record with a throw of 72.28 m. Barbora has three Olympic medals to her name.