Olympic gold-medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is aiming to breach the 90m mark before the Paris Olympics and says the way his preparations are going, it could happen anytime soon.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the world's fastest woman, may change her plans and defend both her 100 and 200 metres titles at next month's world championships in Beijing.
More 90m throws to come this season: Neeraj Chopra
Chopra threw a personal best 89.30m at last month's Paavo Nurmi Games before improving it to 89.94m at the Stockholm Diamond League.
The 30-year-old, who won Olympic gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016, will miss this year's Olympic Games in Paris.
Kenya's Olympic and world 3,000 metres steeplechase champion Conseslus Kipruto has tested positive for coronavirus and will miss the season-opening Diamond League meeting in Monaco on Friday, the 25-year-old has confirmed.
Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra expects to breach the coveted 90m mark this year but doesn't want to think about "distance" going into the World Athletics Championships, in Eugene, United States.
Anderson Peters of Grenada and Tokyo Olympics silver winner Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic had come up with 93.07m and 90.88m throws respectively
Hope to breach 90m mark this year, says Neeraj Chopra
Summary of all that made news on Monday
He also said that "in some way or the other," his preparations for Paris Olympics will be different, though he did not elaborate.
Chopra had said in recent media interactions that he would not put himself under pressure with the thought of throwing beyond 90m and would look to build up gradually to peak during the July 15-24 World Championships in Eugene, USA.
Neeraj was all set to defend his title in Birmingham, but pulled out of the multi-sport event after his medical team advised a month's rest after MRI scan showed a minor injury.
In hockey, the women's team continued its inspiring run with a silver medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Chopra had set a new national record of 89.94m, just 6cm shy of the 90m mark, the gold standard in the world of javelin throw, at the prestigious Diamond League in Stockholm last month en route to a silver medal.
Neeraj Chopra's rise to stardom from a Haryana village has been nothing short of spectacular.
A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.
His first throw of 88.39 metres earned him automatic qualification for the final.
Boston Marathon champion Meb Keflezighi and Diamond League winner Jenny Simpson have been voted as US athletes of the year, USA Track & Field (USATF) announced on Monday.
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra will be primed to breach the 90m mark during the Kuortane Games in Finland on Saturday after his spectacular return to action in Turku where he had sent his spear to 89.30m for a new national record.
With the retirement of three-time champion Usain Bolt, the 100m will have a new gold medallist at Tokyo 2020.
The Canadian was expected to be Bolt's main rival for his 100 metres crown in the Jamaican's farewell championship but he suffered a hamstring strain in training on Monday and will miss the rest of the season.
Besides Surat, which will also be the world's fastest growing city during 2019-35, the other nine cities are Agra, Bengaluru Hyderabad, Nagpur, Tiruppur, Rajkot, Tiruchirappalli, Chennai and Vijayawada.
