Javelin thrower Rohit Yadav looks to peak at Worlds

CHENNAI: Javelin thrower Rohit Yadav missed out on what would have been his maiden World Championships in 2023 due to an elbow injury, which forced him to sit out for more than 12 months. His return to competitive action was delayed as he continued to experience pain during his recovery.

However, he gradually pushed himself and, within a year of his recovery, Rohit achieved his personal best at the Inter-State meet here and is now close to qualifying for the World Championships in Tokyo. Upon his comeback he did not have a coach until January, when Sergey Makarov was appointed as the national coach. During that time at the NIS Patiala, he received guidance from senior coach Parveer Singh.

“It was a very tough period. Let alone the comeback, I was not sure if I would recover completely or not. The rehab also took a lot more time than usual. This year too, I started to feel the pain in elbow after the Federation Cup (in April) and was scared. But I got my confidence back at the recent Bronze-level meet in Bhubaneswar, where I threw close to 84m but it was out of range. The throw instilled confidence in me and then, I recorded my personal best in Chennai,” Rohit told TOI on Monday.

Rohit started the season by winning silver at the National Games with an 80m+ throw but it took him close to five months to register another effort of similar magnitude. “My target was to make it to the Worlds by achieving the qualifying mark, but I could not do it as I started feeling pain. It might have happened because I began my season early. However, now I feel that I am on track and could peak at the World Championships (if he qualifies). My coaches planned in a way that I could peak closer to the Worlds,” Rohit added.

The arrival of Olympic and World Championships medallist Makarov as national coach has been beneficial for Rohit. The 24-year-old feels that Makarov is very flexible and understands athletes well. “He knows athletes’ needs and designs workouts accordingly. Personally, I am trying to make a few minor changes based on his advice, and it will take some time to implement completely.”

Reigning world champion Neeraj Chopra has been a good friend of Rohit and both have trained together at the national camps in the past. When Rohit was making a comeback from injury, Neeraj asked him to stay patient and focus on rehab.

Neeraj has been aiming to set a standard for javelin in India and that has motivated Rohit to raise the bar. Also, a day before Rohit’s participation at the Federation Cup, Neeraj personally called him and asked him to compete at the NC Classic competition. “I felt very happy to compete alongside several world-class players. And I got to participate with Neeraj after a very long time. During the NC Classic, I observed players’ training methods and learnt quite a few things.”

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