Neeraj Chopra. Remember the name. August 7 will go into the history books. The day when an Indian finally climbed atop the podium in a track and field event at the Olympics. Considered the blue-riband discipline at the Olympics, India has never managed to conquer that code. Not till 8.01 PM on a typical humid Tokyo night. In his first attempt in the javelin final, Chopra hurled the spear — something he has been doing for almost a decade now — to a distance of 87.03m. No other competitior, including the great German Johannes Vetter, came close to overhauling that.
Just to rubber-stamp his dominance in this utterly one-sided final, the 23-year-old’s second throw went even further to 87.58m. That throw had to be seen to be believed. After composing himself at the top of the runway, he swiftly gathered pace over the next 15-20 metres before hurling it into the night sky. He didn’t wait for it to land. He knew it was better than his first throw as soon as the javelin left his hand. He turned around, lifted both his arms up in the air and had the look of a man who had known he had etched himself into the record books.
The main competitors coming into the 12-man final were Vetter, compatriot Julian Weber and the Czech Jakub Vadlejch. It wasn’t the greatest field — some of Chopra’s main competitiors either hadn’t travelled to Tokyo or didn’t manage to qualify for the final. That, however, is no slight on what the Indian did on Saturday night. It really was a ‘where were you’ moment.
And Chopra, like perhaps PV Sindhu, is an Indian only by nationality but not by mentality. In the sense that he doesn’t get cowed down by the big occasion. The way he tends to dominate big moments is so refreshing for a country that still doesn’t have enough of these sporting moments to take heart from.
At the Commonwealth Games in 2018, his final throw of 86.47m won him gold by a distance of almost four metres. At the Asian Games a few months down the line, his distance of 88.06m saw him finish first by almost six metres. At the Olympics, that gap between him and second-place Vadlejch was almost a metre. In fact, two of his four legitimate throws (87.03m and 87.58m) would have seen him win gold. It’s surely not supposed to be this easy? But then he has made holding a spear, that has to weigh 800g and be 2.6-2.6m long, the easiest thing for such a long time.
For some the pandemic had turned their lives but for Neeraj it was some kind of a boon. He recovered early last year to compete and qualified in January. The Olympics, initially scheduled for July last year would have been a touch and go. His javelin was still clearing 15-86 metres but not beyond that. “The postponement gave me time to work out more,” he said during an interaction after the event. “That helped me. Slowly I improved the distance.” Neeraj’s coach Klaus Baronietz felt the one quality that defines Neeraj is his ability to remain focused. He doesn’t have commercial commitments and off social media. He is reluctant to take phone calls too.
Neeraj felt the first throw eased his nerves and that helped him to clear that 87.58 metres later. “It is always crucial to get your first throw well. It helps ease the pressure. And that’s what happened today. This also puts pressure on others who would be competing next.” German thrower Johannes Vetter, the one who could have beaten him was eliminated after the third round of throws.
Technical sport. I improved gradually, corrected weaknesses. Klaus Bartonietz (bio-mechanical expert) has a lot of experiences. He understands techniques, he also understands my body. He has worked with throwers in different countries.
On Training
It was important, a good distance will put more pressure on the other athletes. After second attempt, I knew that this was my best throw. I could not have thought about gold at that stage as I was thinking of improving my throws.
First two throws
Cannot find words, but everything changed when I knew I won. At the runway (during his sixth attempt) also I was thinking about it. I got injured in 2019. After the Olympics was postponed, I decided not to take it negatively.
Post winning gold
When I didn’t know anything, they helped me. Whoever you started out with, you musn’t ever forget them. There is this guy, a fellow thrower, who had lots of injuries. He helped me a lot but he couldn’t continue his career because of injuries.
On old coaches
The main focus this year was the Olympics, I tried for the Olympic record and gave my full power but I couldn’t get it... I have given my 100%, that (Olympics) was my main focus. If I get visa for training abroad now, then I will think about it.
what lies ahead
Your day matters. World ranking doesn’t matter at the Olympics. I respect him (Johannes Vetter), he is a great thrower. I felt sad when I saw him go out. As for pressure, when I’m on the runway I just focus on my javelin
Vetter and pressure
Progression
2016 Gold in the World U20 Athletics Championships with a throw of 86.48m.
2018 Gold at Commonwealth Games with a throw of 86.47m.
2018 Gold Won gold at Asian Games with a throw of 88.06m. He bettered his own previous record with this attempt.
2019 Neeraj was out of action for most of the year with an elbow injury.
2020 Neeraj returned to action in January 2020 and qualified for the Games with a throw of 87.86m at the ACNE League meeting in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
2021 Rewrote the national record yet again with a throw of 88.07m at Indian Grand Prix-3 in Patiala in March.
2021 Wins India’s first individual Olympic gold in athletics with a best throw of 87.58m.
Cash rewards from BCCI
The BCCI announced cash rewards for India’s medal winners at the Tokyo Olympics with Rs 1 crore reserved for Neeraj Chopra.Rs 50 lakh each will be given to silver medallists Mirabai Chanu and Ravi Dahiya. The bronze winners will get Rs 25 lakh. The men’s hockey team will get Rs 1.25 crore.
Vetter happy for Neeraj
His own shock exit from the Olympics notwithstanding, superstar German javelin thrower Johannes Vetter said he was happy for his good friend Neeraj Chopra. The 28-year-old Vetter had come into the Olympics as a hot favourite for gold, having thrown 90m plus on seven occasions between April and June but he was shockingly eliminated after the first three throws in the final, placed ninth with a best effort of 82.52m. “He (Neeraj) is a really talented guy, always really friendly.”