Coming second with a throw of 83.80 meters in Eugene Oregon in the Diamond League Final, Neeraj Chopra capped a memorable DL season with two first place and two second place showings.
In sport you are considered a true great if you are able to win on a day, which isn’t really one of your best. It is about attrition and staying in the contest. About not giving up and digging deep. That’s what we have seen from Neeraj Chopra last night at the Hayward Field in Eugene Oregon. In difficult conditions where every participant struggled in dealing with the wind, Neeraj had two fouls in the Diamond League Final. But somehow managed to throw 83.80 in his second attempt to make it to the second spot behind Czech Jakub Vadlejch. It was Chopra’s fourth Diamond League competition this season and he ended up winning in Doha (5 May) and Lausanne (30 June), while coming second to Jakub in Zurich and Eugene.
It is this amazing consistency that has defined Neeraj Chopra since winning the Olympic Gold medal in Tokyo 2 years back. He has managed to make the podium in every single competition he has played in and in 2023 had the most amazing season winning the world championship gold medal, which was a historic first for India. Neeraj is now expected to travel to Hangzhou for the Asian Games, where his body will need to adjust to a 15 and a half hour time difference when compared to Eugene, not to mention the jet lag and strain of travel.
From the action last night, it can be said that Neeraj wasn’t at his best. He hasn’t once finished below 85 meters this season and in that sense 83.80 was a modest effort. But then that’s what it is all about. Not everyday can someone be at his best. Not every month can you peak and achieve the same high as you did in the world championship. And yet you were there or thereabout. In Zurich he was 15 cms of Jakub and in Eugene he was 44 cms short of the winner. Even when he was not at his best, he managed to finish second in the finals capping yet another memorable Diamond League season.
Just to put things in context- we in India aren’t used to seeing our own win Diamond League competitions. Participation is what it has been all about. With Neeraj, everything has changed. Had it been someone else, a second place showing would make for a national headline. The athlete would be trending having broken a ceiling. With Neeraj, however, things are different. We are used to see him winning. Finish at the top of the podium and hence a second place showing appears a modest effort. That’s what Neeraj has been able to do. Spoil us to an extent. Give us hope that he can finish first each time he steps out to throw the Javelin. Even if he is not at his best. That’s what defines the Neeraj narrative in 2023. Despite all the pressure on him, he has continued to excel and deliver. And now he has to do it one final time in China to complete what has been a stellar season, which has seen him cope with injuries and weather to emerge triumphant.
Suffice to say, at 25 there are few worlds left for him to conquer and yet he has stayed rooted and humble and shown the same hunger that we had seen in Tokyo to stamp his class as India’s best ever athlete of all time.