It would take a brave student of sport some effort to stick one’s neck out a long way and name Neeraj Chopra as the greatest Indian athlete of all time. For, if comparing athletes across disciplines is fraught with much risk, adding another dimension – time spanning several generations – multiplies that manifold.
The innate humility of most sportspersons is such that few, barring, of course, Muhammad Ali, have ever claimed to be the greatest. They shy away from standing before mirrors and asking: ‘Who’s the greatest of them all?’ They polish their talent and skill every single day, rather than allow applause to massage or inflate their egos.
Yet, the urge of the sports fan to speak of some athlete or the other as the GOAT (Greatest of all time) is just an integral part of spectating, more so in the social-media era of human development. Of course, in keeping with the trends, critics and fans are quick to diss athletes when they do not live up to their expectations.
What are some factors that make an athlete eligible for the title of the greatest of all time? Is it consistency over a reasonable length of time? The longevity with a generous sprinkling of success in the sport? The respect and fear that an athlete’s name evokes in the minds and hearts of rivals? The immense popularity with the masses thar makes one eligible for that crown?
Chopra scores high on a lot of those factors. For instance, he has not finished outside the top 3 in any event since the Doha Diamond League meeting on May 4, 2018. He has a rich array of medals and trophies to show for his efforts. The awe and respect that his competitors look at him with is undeniable. And his popularity is crossing new frontiers each day.
Yet, to speak of him as the greatest Indian athlete across all disciplines and time would be to disregard countless legends, some of whom have even multiple Olympic gold medals or World Championship podium finishes to their name. They would also figure very high in the popularity stakes and have earned great respect from their competitors.
Let us pause for a moment, and flip through the pages of India’s sports history.
Hockey legends Dhyan Chand and Balbir Singh Sr. are among handful of Indian athletes with three gold medals each; PV Sindhu has two Olympic Games Badminton medals and a World Championship crown, beside four other podium finishes in the World Championship; Boxer MC Mary Kom won the World title six times and has an Olympic medal as well.
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It would be wrong to stop with only the 2006 World Championship win and the 2008 Olympic Games gold as rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra’s achievements. And it is hard to ignore that Leander Paes added 18 Grand Slam doubles trophies to the Olympic Games bronze (1996) that broke a long medal drought for India in the greatest celebration of sport.
It is not their fault that five-time World Chess champion V Anand, 16-time World Billiards and Snooker titlist Pankaj Advani and eight-time World Billiards champion Geet Sethi have not been exponents of very physical sporting endeavours. But their place in Indian sports’ Hall of Fame is assured for all time to come.
And there are a number of cricketers who would tick those boxes that qualify for greatness. Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli are names that spring readily to mind and their contribution to the health of the Indian sports ecosystem can never be overlooked in any debate.
If Chopra wins the World Championships in Budapest next month, he will surely stoke the conversation further but, left to himself, he will dissuade us from anointing him as the greatest Indian sportsperson. He would remind us that the Golden League is perhaps athletics’ equivalent of the tennis Grand Slam events, badminton’s Super Series tournaments and shooting’s World Cup competitions.
Considering that he still has many years of engaging the emotions of sports fans across the nation, Chopra is essentially work in progress. And that is one reason we must refrain from piling the pressure on him by insisting that he has annexed the mythical throne, besides the titles at the global level.
Taking a cue from him, instead of expending energies in arguing one way or the other, we must focus on how he is raising the bar for his compatriots in a physical sport that demands explosive energy – and hope that his relentless pursuit of excellence will inspire not just the coming generation of athletes but also many contemporary elite athletes.
His willingness to listen to signals from his own body and not risk aggravating twitches and niggles into full-blown injuries is an indication of his maturity in taking responsibility for his own actions. The quest to pick up a few extra Euros could have had repercussions that would have affected his plans for the World Athletics Championship, Asian Games and Diamond League Finals.
He has this amazing ability to bring his A game to the fore each time he has stepped into a competition. His successful defence of the Lausanne Diamond League title earned him his fourth win in Diamond League competitions to add to his victories in the Tokyo Olympic Games and the silver medal in the World Athletics Championships in Eugene last year.
In Lausanne, yet again, he showed that he has an innate ability to deal with pressure. Coming from a break when he had to nurse his body back to fitness, he was a bit circumspect early on. The chill in the air was no help either. A ‘no mark’ on the first attempt meant that he had to change any plans he may have had of uncorking a big first throw and leaving the others to play catch up.
He rose to third place behind German Julian Weber and Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch with his second throw of 83.52m. And then to second with an 85.04m effort a few minutes later. A no-mark on the fourth try meant he would have to summon his best when he picked up the Javelin the next time around if he were to take the top place. He would have to hold his nerve.
He responded with a winning throw of 87.66m. It did not matter that it was not the 90m throw that his fans have been demanding for a while now; it also did not matter that the 87.66m effort found only the 12th place on the list of his best throws in competition. It mattered that it took him to the top spot in the Diamond League standings.
For now, he will focus on living in the moment and preparing for his next big competition. There is perhaps a message there, too. For everyone who is prepared to absorb the unsaid. He loves retreating into his own space, a good distance away from any chatter on his being the greatest Indian sportsperson.
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