Eight, maybe nine steps of a slightly awkward looking run-in, like he's too big to be attempting to run in like this. If you didn't know better, you might wonder whether a heavyweight boxer or weightlifter has accidentally strayed out of the ring onto the athletics tracks and been handed a javelin. He's officially 6'3" but that might just be the width of his chest.
He looks bigger. | Then a few catapulting side-steps, a little rhythm and Until the , in truth, it is a little underwhelming but in the way Jeff Thomson was underwhelming when he used to shuffle up to the crease and go . The was the magic there, as the is here, a similar biomechanic commingling of arm, shoulder, hip and pure willpower.
Contrastingly is Neeraj Chopra, unmistakably an athlete, from the cut of his jib to the cut of his hair to the cut of his physique. He sprints in, knees pumping, hair partying, eyes fierce, in Ultra HD sheen to his rival's duller SD glow. Chopra has enough energy to power this stadium and leaves no one in any doubt about the magic of his whoosh, tumbling over to prevent himself from breaching the line, letting out an angry howl to let everyone know he's in the house.
It's a great charade, though, because within two seconds of Nadeem's , the commentator knows. As the javelin rises through the Paris air, so too does the commentator's voice. This is enormous.
This is massive. This is 90m-plus. This is an Olympic record.
This is the gold. (Solemn advice: to do it justice, watch the clip .