Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is India’s brightest hope at the ongoing World Athletics Championships in London, and with good reason.

A year back, he set a junior world record with a throw of 86.48 at the IAAF World U-20 Championships, winning the junior title. The 19-year-old from Haryana is now aiming at bigger titles. In the last few months, he competed at the Diamond League in Paris and the Herculis Meeting in Monaco to prepare for the senior world stage. His recent throws have been in excess of 85m, with 85.63m at the Indian Senior Nationals in Patiala and 85.23m at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneshwar last month.

“I’m feeling fresh and I’m happy to have been throwing consistently well. I recently looked back and realized it’s been a year since my throw at the Junior World Championships. Time has flown by and I have made so many good memories since. Everything’s been a build up to this Championship and I know I’ll give my best,” the youngster was quoted as saying on the JSW website.

“The Diamond League debut and then the Herculis Meeting in Monaco were probably the best options for me running up to the World Championships. There were some big names there and the experience taught me how not to get too flustered by the importance of the occasion,” he added.

Chopra comes from the village of Khandra in Panipat and says that it is his family and people back home that keep him grounded.

“My family doesn’t really follow where I am or which tournament I’ve gone for. All they know is that I’m doing what I love the most and they’re very, very happy when I tell them that I’ve won a medal. Then whether it is gold in Patiala or bronze in Paris doesn’t matter. That joy means a lot and it’s what helps me push myself to give it everything,” he told JSW.

The 19-year-old is aware of the big task at hand in London. No Indian has won a gold medal at the Worlds in track and field before. But for that no matter, no Indian had held any sort of world record in athletics before Chopra.

“I’m aware that the competition is very tough. But I promise that I will try my best. I’ll go all out to make my country proud. This will be my first world championship and my target will be to get my season best. If that results in a medal, I’ll be doubly happy. It is true that it will be tough to win a medal even with an effort of 87m but you can’t predict the day as sometimes the quality of the competition goes up and down,” Chopra told The Times of India.

Chopra will be in action on Thursday, 10 August at London 2017.