JAVELIN IS NO FLIGHT OF FANCY FOR CHOPRA

Calm Indian’s masterful technique will be key as he chases a second Olympic gold

- Rohit Brijnath

Five years ago a five-metre wide painting was discovered on an Indonesian cave wall it was estimated to be 44,000 years old. In it were depicted what might be buffalo and pigs but also human-like figures holding a familiar object.

A spear.

If you wish any further history you can ask a tractor-driving, always-smiling farm boy from India whose job is to hurl this instrument of violence a peacefully long distance. Neeraj Chopra has been take a deep breath - the Olympic, world, Asian Games, Diamond League Final and Commonwealth Games champion in the javelin. And this 26-year-old man of science loves that what he does connects him to the past.

"When man had nothing," he tells The Straits Times from Saarbrucken in Germany, "he used to use the spear. For hunting his food. So while one may not use it for violence or to kill something, it has always been an integral part of mankind."

Actually, Chopra, the Olympic defending champion, does metaphorically kill things. He snuffs out stereotypes about Asian track and field athletes lacking world-class ability. And he slays any notion that nice guys can't win.

In the film Troy, Brad Pitt - no run-up required, of course, he's Achilles - hurls a spear with deadly effect but with miserable technique. Spear-chucking might seem a simple, savage act but Chopra's art requires a model's runway, 250kg half-squats, a PhD in flight mechanics, a lumberjack-strong shoulder and, yes, a circus-acrobat's flexibility which allows him to bend like a bow and hurl a 4kg medicine ball over 20m.

From the outside the javelin comprises a fast run, a sudden brake, a launch. Yet its mechanics are complex. Small things matter and Chopra's patience in re-explaining his art to yet another interrogator reveals his affection for his trade. This is a devoted preacher.