In cricket, Virat Kohli has Rohit Sharma and many others. In badminton, PV Sindhu has the men’s team, who are no less achievers. But in athletics, it is just Chopra at the top. To be the polestar isn’t easy, but he has conducted himself with utmost maturity and presided over a revolution of sorts, winning medals at every event he has participated in. What works or has worked for Chopra? How does he keep himself rooted despite all the adulation around him? How is he dealing with the mantle of India’s new sporting superstar? How important was it for him to prove that Tokyo wasn’t an aberration, that he belongs at this level of elite competitors?
“Main koi bhi competition mein Olympic Champion ban ke nahi khelta hoon. I always play as Neeraj, just another athlete. All I do is give my 100 percent and prepare the best I can,” said Chopra when asked how he readies himself mentally. “Pressure to hai. Rahega bhi. But what is important is that the sport is now attracting attention in India. People are following every single competition. They are getting to know more about javelin and more and more people will now play the sport.”
2022, it can be argued, was considerably more difficult for him in comparison to 2021. In Tokyo, he was a contender, more for a medal than the gold. India would have been happy if he made the podium and few would have hoped for the gold.
Post Tokyo, things became dramatically different. On the one hand, people couldn’t have enough of him, and on the other, they wanted him to win every event he played in. He was the boy next door and the elite athlete all moulded into one. For a 24-year-old, it couldn’t have been easy.
To carve out a balance was his biggest challenge and that’s where Chopra has stood out. He fulfilled the obligations of being Neeraj Chopra for weeks and months and then managed to switch-off completely. While there were occasional posts on social media, his team, which is so very critical to success in elite sport, made sure he could focus on training single-mindedly. To shed close to 14kg wasn’t easy. Stronger, fitter and smarter, Neeraj 2.0 was ready for the battle.
Abhinav Bindra, 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medallist, has often spoken about how difficult it was to deal with the post-Beijing euphoria. He had it all at 26 and there was nothing left for him to strive for, he argued. For Neeraj, however, depression was never an issue.
“If you see Usain Bolt or Carl Lewis or athletes in their league, it is all about repeat success,” Chopra said. “You can’t be satisfied with one Olympic gold medal. If you can win in Paris and then maybe in Los Angeles, then you can call yourself a great and that’s what drives me. I want to do more for my country.”
Missing the 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Birmingham wasn’t easy but he took the tough call keeping the long-term well-being in mind. A CWG medal would have fetched him a few more crores but money wasn’t an issue for him anymore.
Yes, he hasn’t thrown 90 meters yet. It has become an obsession of sorts with him by his own admission. But that’s not bad going into the new season. He knows he isn’t there yet despite winning all that there is to win. He stills wants a World Championship gold and may be another in the 2024 Olympics. And with Neeraj, one thing is certain. There will never be any dearth of effort. Be it in trying to master English to deal with the global media or in getting ready for competition, he will always prepare the best to give himself the best chance.
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