Doping biggest menace to athletics; too much expectation on Neeraj Chopra at Paris Olympics: Valerie Adams

New Delhi: Doping continues to be the biggest threat to the integrity of athletics as a sport even though progress has been made to curb it, said retired four-time world champion shot putter Valerie Adams.

Speaking in Bengaluru as ambassador of the TCS World 10K, the New Zealander said harsher punitive measures to dope cheats has also led normalisation of the process.

“Doping is very dangerous to the sport. It continues to be an issue even now. Remember Russia was banned for such long time because of the doping scandal. But we are making great progress in this space,” she said on Thursday.

“The punishment that is handed out to dopers, they have become a lot harsher. So, ethics has leaked in the way in this space and I’m proud to be a part of the normalisation.”

Pressure on Neeraj Chopra

Adams called time on her career after claiming bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and rated it more special than the gold medals she won in 2008 Beijing 2012 London, since it was during COVID times that kept her separated from her two children.

At Tokyo, the 39-year-old also felt Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian athlete to win a track and field gold medal at the Games.

Adams said she could feel Chopra to be under a lot of weight of expectations of defending his Olympic gold and urged him block out all noise and focus on his process that has made him the reigning World and Olympic champion.

“There’s undoubtedly immense pressure on Neeraj Chopra as he goes out there and try to defend (the gold). I’m sure he can feel it. The noise can be overwhelming,” she said.

“Neeraj is seasoned. He knows precisely what needs to be done. He’ll know what his training looks like, where his competitions are, and what needs to do be done to make sure that he’s on the right track leading into this Olympics.

“It’s (title defence) a very difficult thing to do. It’s every four years but also you know, when you are fantastic everybody loves you but when you don’t, sometimes you suffer from something called tall poppy syndrome and as has a negative impact on you.”

• Neeraj Chopra
• Paris Olympics 2024