Golden Boy to Man, farmers family to famous Soldier

By Rahul Das

Neeraj was not born into a sporting family. In fact, no one in his large joint family had a clue about any kind of sport, least of all organized sport. The only fields Neeraj saw in his childhood were the ones that belonged to his family of farmers. There was no question of exposure to any organized or competitive sport. He often speaks about his accidental entry into athletics and javelin throw, and how he took up the sport because he was overweight and wanted to be fit.

With the benefit of hindsight, one should be grateful to his paternal grandmother. If it wasn’t for her, he would not have been overweight and tried to get in shape. Perhaps, he wouldn’t even have seen a javelin in his life. And India would have been poorer by a historic gold medal.

The one thing that strikes you automatically when you meet Neeraj is his down to earth and remarkable simplicity . Not that India hasn’t produced rustic champions before but the ease of simplicity yet the elan with which he uses his rustiness’ is remarkable.

Confidence

Once he told journalists at an event : He quietly told an Anchor at an awards event “Hindi main poonch lo bhai”. It was his response to a question in English without the slightest embarrassment. Now we’ve all seen Pakistan cricketers and even some Indian cricketers trolled for their English – Not one of them except Rashid Latif said “Hindi/Urdu main poonch lo” even to Indian or Pakistani commentators.
He doesn’t care if he can’t speak English properly – he knows he has to win Olympic medal for India. That’s his unsung greatness

Humility

“Can you win a medal for India”
Answer “Sir. Koshish to poore dil se karoonga” (Sir I’ll try my level best)
“How do you respond to Vetters remark that he’s better than you?”
Answer : “Sir woh bahut behtereen khiladi hain, 90+ throws bahut kiye hain , ab sirf muqabla ke din pata chalega” (Sir he’s a great player and has thrown 90+ many times so we’ll see during the actual event”
Meanwhile his friend Shivpal said “Sure both of us will win medals” and ended up not even qualifying

Respect all coaches

Many trolled Neeraj as a Sanghi for not acknowledging his first coach – Naseem Ahmed.
Then Naseem Ahmed said “He called me on 7th itself and said did you watch the TV?? He thanked me on the same day and so did his father”
So, he may be a devout Hindu but he didn’t allow politics to interfere even though a lot of people tried their best to create a Hindu – Muslim angle.

The feisty resolution even in defeat

The morning after India’s Tokyo heartbreak with Neeraj Chopra failing to make it to the podium after seven years, thoughts swirled around how soon the javelin virtuouso would make a comeback. The champion’s ego, the spirit of the Army man in him, will certainly goad him towards what could be the odyssey of Neeraj Chopra 2.0.

It could be the most challenging phase of his career. Until now, his remarkable consistency in the last seven years seemed too good to be true. It saw a 33-tournament streak, spread over 2,566 days that he made it a habit to end with podium finishes — which include two Olympic medals, a World Championship gold, back-to-back Asian Games golds and of course the ultra-competitive Diamond League circuit. The last time Neeraj finished outside the top three was on 9 September 2018, when he finished sixth as a 20-year-old in Ostrava.

‘’Whatever has happened today, I will learn from it. I will accept it and try to do better next season,’’ an almost apologetic Neeraj said in the mixed zone in Tokyo, something he needn’t have to be. Competing with a disc problem, which the scans revealed after he sustained a back injury earlier this month during a throwing drill with the shot put while preparing for the Worlds, it would have been an easier proposition for the defending champion to pull out rather than stake his reputation.

In the end Neeraj Chopra comes out as a man made of flesh and blood with his fallacies and shortcomings but the nature of his gargantuan achievements and his feet firmly bedded in ground creates a massive impression for him as a people’s champion which India has not been able to look beyond. And that to me and many has been his greatest strength. Happy Birthday Champion.