It is not easy being Neeraj Chopra. To do the things he does. To win consecutive medals on the world stage, and yet feel the same hunger when he gets ready for the next competition. And now, he has won India’s first-ever World Championship gold.
In cricket, India has Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. In badminton, PV Sindhu, twice Olympic medallist, has support from the men’s squad, who have quietly come into their own in recent years. But in athletics, it is just Neeraj at the top. To be the polestar can’t be easy, and yet he has conducted himself with utmost maturity, presiding over a revolution of sorts by winning medals at every event he has participated in.
And now he is the No. 1 in the world in the men’s javelin. He is world champion. A first for him and, needless to say, a first for India.
What works for Neeraj, or has worked so far? 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 the Olympic gold in Tokyo wasn’t an aberration, and that he belonged at this level of elite global competitors?
“Main koi bhi competition mein Olympic Champion ban ke nahi khelta hoon,” said Chopra when asked how he has readied himself mentally. “I always play as Neeraj, just another athlete. Never do I approach a competition thinking I am Neeraj, Olympic gold medallist. All I do is give my 100 percent and prepare the best I can. Pressure to hai. Rahega bhi [Pressure is there and will be]. But what is important is the sport is now attracting attention in India. People are following every single competition. They are getting to know more about Javelin and as a result more and more people will now play the sport.”
Consolidating on the Tokyo win in 2022 and 2023, it could be argued, has been considerably more difficult. In Tokyo, he was just a contender. More for a medal than the gold. India would have been happy if he made the podium, and few even dared hope for gold. Post-Tokyo, things were dramatically different. On the one hand, people couldn’t have enough of him. On the other, they wanted him to win every event he participated in. He was the boy next door and the elite athlete moulded into one. He had to inaugurate every conclave and every gala, and yet couldn’t miss training, for then there could be criticism that success had gone to his head. He had it all, and yet was challenged every single day for more. India couldn’t have enough of Neeraj, and yet did not know how to let him be and train in peace. For a 24-year-old, it can’t have been easy.
Abhinav Bindra 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, you will see it is all about repeat success,” he said during one of our many interactions. “You can’t be satisfied with one Olympic gold medal. If you can win in Paris and then may be in Los Angeles, then you can call yourself a great, and that’s what drives me. I want to do more for my country and will not rest easy.” And while saying so, he has stayed humble. Just as he was tonight when he congratulated Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem for his silver.
He has always taken the right calls. Missing a few competitions wasn’t easy, and yet he decided to do so keeping the bigger picture in mind. A Commonwealth Games medal, for example, would have fetched him a few more crores, but money wasn’t an issue for him anymore.
Yes, he hasn’t thrown 90 metres yet. It has become an obsession of sorts with him by his own admission. But that’s not bad going into the Asian Games. He knows he isn’t there yet, despite winning all that there is to win. He still wants a second Olympic gold and may be one in Hangzhou. And with Neeraj, one thing is certain. There will never be any dearth of effort. Success hasn’t changed him, and that perhaps is the most important reason behind him scaling his sport’s peak.
India finally has a world champion athlete. A first in our history. And perhaps, the greatest of them all.