Swiss luxury brand for watches OMEGA, which is also the official timekeeper for this year's Paris Olympics, signed up Neeraj Chopra as a brand ambassador on May 9.
The star athlete was invited to the OMEGA boutique in Doha, Qatar ahead of his championship at the Wanda Diamond League.
"OMEGA is thrilled and proud to welcome Neeraj Chopra to the family. He has been selected by OMEGA for his dedication, excellence, and precision – the very same values that OMEGA strives for in its iconic watchmaking," the company said in a release.
Speaking on the partnership, Neeraj Chopra said, “I am very excited to be a part of such an iconic brand that plays such a huge role in timekeeping at the Olympic Games. I am looking forward to a great association with OMEGA and the upcoming spectacle in Paris.”
Neeraj Chopra is known for his exceptional performance at the Tokyo Olympic Games. He is the reigning Olympic champion and World champion in the men's javelin throw. He is the first Asian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in javelin and the first Asian to win gold at the world championship.
After competing in the Diamond League, Chopra will head to Bhubaneswar for the Federation Cup athletics championship, which will be his first competitive outing on Indian soil in three years.
OMEGA has been the official timekeeper at almost every Olympic
Games since 1932. Paris 2024 will mark OMEGA’s 31st occasion as the official timekeeper of the games. Throughout this time, the brand has developed and introduced some of the most important timekeeping technologies in sports while recording the dreams of the world’s best athletes.
'Anything is possible': Chopra
India's javelin stars will kick off the outdoor season at the Doha leg of the Diamond League on May 10 with a new sense of 'belief'.
Leading the challenge will be world and Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra and his comrade-in-arm, Kishore Jena.
Chopra and Jena, who produced a historic gold-silver finish at the Hangzhou Asian Games, have both qualified for the upcoming Summer Olympics in July August, but Chopra, the poster boy of Indian athletics, believes a third javelin thrower - DP Manu - should make the Paris cut as well.
Chopra said he had always paid attention to his overseas training and has meticulously chosen his competition schedule so that he is fully prepared ahead of a major global event. It will be no different ahead of Paris.
The reigning Diamond League champion said, "After Tokyo, I found out how international athletes plan their schedule and choose their training centres so that there is minimum travel, quicker acclimatisation and proper diet leading up to a major event. These are finer details that I discuss with my coach and once a decision is made, we approach TOPS for assistance. It has worked well for us."
Chopra emphasized that while "belief" will play an important part going forward from Doha, he cautioned that performance can never be guaranteed.
"It will be on how we do on that day. I strongly believe we all are training hard and doing a Budapest encore is not impossible," Chopra stated.
Chopra, who threw a world-leading 88.67 meters to win the gold medal last year in Doha, will start as a favourite in a field that is expected to feature Jakub Vadlejch (Czech), Anderson Peters (Grenada), Max Dehning (Germany) and Jena among others.
(With inputs from ANI)