Neeraj Chopra: An Olympic Champion!

Table of Contents

Why we are discussing this?

For many years India waited for an individual Olympic medalist in track and field.
The wait finally ended on Saturday when Neeraj Chopra scripted history, winning the Gold medal in the Mens’ Javelin event at the Tokyo Olympics.
Neeraj Chopra became only the 2nd Indian athlete after Abhinav Bindra to win an individual Gold medal at the Olympic Games.

Who is Neeraj Chopra?

Born on December 24, 1997, Neeraj Chopra is an Indian track and field athlete and a javelin thrower, hailing from Panipat.
He is the first Indian athlete to clinch gold at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World U-20 Athletics Championship in Poland in 2016, setting a world junior record.
He is also the first Indian athlete to top the qualification in the men’s javelin throw with his first attempt of 86.65 meters in Group A at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

How he got attracted towards Javelin throw?

An overweight 12-year-old boy from Haryana’s Khandra village was under tremendous pressure from his joint family of 17 to lose weight.
His father Satish Kumar Chopra wanted something to be done to discipline the boy.
So, after a lot of cajoling, the child finally agreed to do some running to shed the flab.
His uncle took him to Shivaji Stadium in Panipat — around 15km from his village.
Chopra wasn’t interested in running and almost instantly fell in love with javelin throw when he saw a few seniors practising at the stadium.
He decided to try his luck and as the cliched saying goes, rest is history, which would now probably make its way into school textbooks.
He was pulled into the sport by senior javelin thrower Jaiveer Choudhary from a nearby village in 2011.
Chopra was game to it and after a few months, in search of better facilities, he shifted to the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula.
By the end of 2012, he had become the U-16 national champion.
At this point came the financial issues as Chopra needed accomodation, better equipment, a kit and better diet to go up the next level.
It was a tough decision for the joint family which owns less than 10 acres of land.
But they pulled through and by 2015, Chopra had joined the national camp.
“We are farmers, nobody in the family has a government job and my family has been supporting me with difficulty. But it is a sort of relief now that I am able to support my family financially besides continuing with my training,“
Chopra had told PTI in an interview after he was made a Junior Commission Officer in the Indian Army in 2017.
He is now a Naib Subedar.

breakthrough

The year 2016 was a breakthrough one for Chopra.
After crossing the 80m mark at the fag end of 2015, Chopra won the South Asian Games in Guwahati in February 2016 with a throw of 82.23m.
A few months later, under the guidance of late Australian coach Gary Calvert, Chopra created history during the world junior championships and announced the arrival of a truly world-class javelin thrower.
His other achievements include gold medals in the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games,
Besides the top finish in the 2017 Asian Championships.
He is also a 2018 Arjuna Awardee.

Chopra’s low phase

Chopra has had his brush with low phases too.
He underwent an arthroscopic surgery on the elbow of his right throwing arm in 2019 which kept him out of action for nearly a year but he came back stronger.

Bartonietz took charge in 2019, at a time when the youngster was going through a testing time with his injury.
With 2020 marred with COVID-19, there was little opportunity to test him against the best in the world.
Bartonietz explains how it also gave them enough time to iron out the chinks and push him towards the elusive 90m mark.

Any change in technique?

It is not right to say changes.
I would say we have worked at improving his shortcomings to push him further.
Things like improving the use of javelin, no unnecessary attack, the angles which you let the javelin fly and the important and impact of air resistance – small things but they matter.
The best in the world do not have such shortcomings.
“Neeraj can be the perfect role model. He is not jealous of others, he is extremely open with everyone and he is not insecure of his own form or position.
He never says no to anyone for help.
He is also one of the best all-round athletes here and one of the hardest working people. What more can you ask for,”