Kolkata: The euphoria over Neeraj Chopra ending India’s quest for a first-ever Olympic medal in athletics with a gold continues unabated since Saturday - and is expected to pick up pace when he returns home with other medallists from Tokyo. The strapping 23-year-old has maintained his composure through endless media interviews - and showed he has his heart in the right place when Chopra said any likely biopic on him has to wait till he is through with his javelin career.
‘‘See, right now I want to focus on my game. I have just begun and want to add new chapters in the journey. When I leave the sport, then we will see but for now, any suggestion of a biopic can wait,’’ India’s golden boy said in reply to a media query. Biopics on sports personalities had been the rage in Bollywood in recent years as it’s often a surefire formula for commercial success, but the Army officer has other goals for now.
Replying to queries of a selected media group, facilitated by his sponsors JSW Group, Chopra agreed that his followers in the social media have taken a quantam leap since that that magical evening two days back. His combination of good looks, obvious talent and now the pinnacle of glory has certainly made him the overnight poster boy in Indian sports - but says that he treats it as part of his downtime.
‘‘I have noticed that my followers have increased, but I use the handle during my downtime - may be to post some vidoes of my exercises or results. It’s important not to lose focus at this stage,’’ said the man from Panipat.
For now, Neeraj wants to go home after a phenomenal Olympics campaign - and the quarantine life which preceded it for months - to savour his success and a much-needed break. There will be ‘kheer’ waiting, a rich Indian dessert cooked by his mother, as he feels he can afford some cheat days before getting back to his regimen again.
‘‘I want to live in the moment now as the last three years has been extremely difficult. The injury in 2019 was a huge blow for me, while we had to re-set our targets when the Games were cancelled last year due to the pandemic. It all seems worthwhile now that the goal has been achieved.
‘‘Looking ahead, I may try to participate in a few tournaments in the circuit this year if I can organise the right training regimen. Otherwise, I will set my goal for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games next year and then the World Championships,’’ Neeraj said.
Speaking soon after his golden haul in Tokyo, Neeraj showed a welcome sense of occasion when he dedicated his medal to the late Milkha Singh, arguably the greatest Indian athlete on the track who missed out on a bronze medal by a hair’s breadth in the 1960 Rome Olympics. The curse of the fourth place again fell on P.T, Usha, in her favourite 400 metres hurdles in 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, but Indian athletics’ man of the moment said he was gratified to realise their unfulfilled dreams.
‘‘I had grown up watching a lot of Milkha Singh ji’s videos. It was a hugely emotional moment for me when I was standing at the podium and the national anthem was playing - and I realised the significance of it myself. I am so glad that I could possibly fulfill his dream as well as Usha madam,’’ he said.
Behind-the-scenes
Reliving the lead-up to the golden moment, Neeraj said that Klaus Bartonietz, the bio-mechanics expert with whom he had been working since 2019, had advised him to go big in the first throw itself - as a good distance there can also put the pressure on his rivals. ‘‘This had worked for me in the qualifiers also and fortunately, I could throw 87.03 metres in the first throw itself. In the second one, I did one better (87.58 metres) and though I couldn’t touch my personal best, I am so happy that I could bring the gold medal for the country,’’ he said.
Thanking both his current coach and erstwhile mentor Uwe Hohn, a legendary thrower himself, Neeraj explained: ‘‘Klaus had a big contribution in my journey and his training plan also suited me. In 2018, I had worked with Uwe on improving my strength but technically, I felt I needed to change myself.
‘‘I want to thank both of them to reach where I am - along with the Indian government, Sports Authority of India (SAI), TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) and JSW, who had kept faith in me since 2015,’’ he added.
