There was a time when Neeraj Chopra did not even like to go to the ground, do workouts, but today he works hard for hours every day.
Neeraj Chopra is The name who has breathed a new life in Indian athletics. India was not seen as a medal contender in athletics in the Olympic Games, but since Neeraj has stepped into the international level, he has won most of the time and this was the effect of the Tokyo Olympics-2020. Even before the beginning of the year, he was considered a strong contender for India. Neeraj has achieved this position through his hard work. This player of javelin throw is included in the great players of the world today, but there was a time when he did not even like to workout. At one time he had a lot of weight and to reduce this weight, he started workouts, and then luck and his hard work brought him to the Tokyo Olympics.
Coming from the farmer family of Panipat, the weight of this boy was a lot in the beginning. When he was 12 years old, his weight was 90 kg. To reduce this heavyweight, he started working hard on his body, or rather his family encouraged him to work hard on his body. He then turned to Shivaji Stadium and from here his career took a different turn.
Meeting Jai Chaudhary changed career
He met javelin thrower Jai Chaudhary at Shivaji Stadium. Jai asked him to throw the javelin and on the very first attempt he got impressed by Neeraj and then his journey started from here. Jai had said in an interview to India Times, “One day in the evening at the stadium, I asked him to throw a javelin. He threw and it went for a distance of about 30-40 meters. I liked his throwing style the most. At that time Neeraj used to have a lot of weight, but his body was very flexible.
climbed the ladder of success
Neeraj came into the news in 2016. When he won the IAAF World Under-20 Championship. He made a junior world record by covering a distance of 86.48 meters in this tournament played in Poland. With this, Neeraj became the first Indian player to win the world title in this event. Then Neeraj went ahead step by step. He won the gold medal at the 2017 Asian Championships. He was also successful in winning medals in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Jakarta Asian Games.
injury caused suspicion
Like it happens with every player, it happened with Neeraj too. Injury. A shoulder injury troubled Neeraj and the result was that he could not take part in the 2019 World Championships in Doha. This injury also raised doubts about Neeraj’s career. The doubt was whether Neeraj would be able to appear in his old complexion. Neeraj cleared all these doubts. In 2020, Neeraj returned fit and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics by performing brilliantly in the ACNW in South Africa. He threw a throw of 87.86m while the Olympic qualifying mark was 85m.
Made a splash in the domestic tournament
Neeraj had found his rhythm and he had given proof of this in India’s domestic tournaments. In Federation Cup and Indian Grand Prix-3, he performed strongly and made a national record of 88.07 meters throw. From here, the hopes of medals from Neeraj had increased further.
did it in Tokyo
Neeraj arrived in Tokyo as a strong contender for the medal. The weight of hope was on his head. In the qualifying event, he made just one attempt and made it to the final. Neeraj had cut the ticket for the final by throwing a throw of 86.65 meters. He was in first place overall. Then in the final, he won the gold medal with a throw of 87.58.
