Neeraj Chopra has created history by winning the gold medal in the javelin long throw event and his achievement has eclipsed every sporting achievement that India has had in its history.
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August 7, 2021. 5:38 PM IST. The whole world stopped. India deliriously shouted in joy. In 125 years of the Olympics, 93 years ever since India started winning medals, August 7, 2021 will forever go down in history as one of the greatest ever moments for India in their sporting history. Neeraj Chopra, hailing from Panipat, secured the gold medal in the javelin long throw event. This was the second individual gold for an Indian in the Olympics as Neeraj Chopra joined Abhinav Bindra at the top. While Bindra’s 2008 epic in Beijing created a revolution in shooting, Neeraj Chopra’s gold in javelin was the first in the history of athletics for India.
Chopra’s two throws of 87.03 and 87.58 meters was enough for the rest of the field. Johannes Vetter, Neeraj Chopra’s only rival capable of beating him, did not even make it to the top eight. His prediction that Neeraj Chopra would find it incredibly hard to beat him was way of the mark, just like his javelin throws today.
When Neeraj Chopra slung the second throw, there was a calm smile about it. The curve, the speed, the distance had all clicked perfectly. The calm smile spoke volumes about his self-belief. It was the self-belief instilled in him by the brilliance of Uwe Hohn. Even before the Tokyo Olympics 2020, Chopra had stressed upon the mantra of staying calm. When he qualified for the final with one throw, that calmness was reflective of the way how he was going to approach the situation.
Calmness and the urge to do well have meant that Chopra has now become the first Indian to win a gold medal in Olympics, Commonwealth, and Asian Games for India. It is a tribute to the way how Uwe Hohn has backed and honed his skills.
When Neeraj Chopra had suffered a debilitating elbow and shoulder injury a couple of years ago, there would have been a tendency to get in some negative thoughts. Add to that, the coronavirus lockdown would have not made his mental health any better. But, he was feeding off the positivity that he had just secured a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics at a time when his injury was plaguing him.
After a 16-month rehabilitation period, Neeraj Chopra participated in the ACNE League in Potchefstroom. He threw a record 87.86 meters as he easily surpassed the Olympic mark of 85 meters. That throw was very important. As Neeraj Chopra himself admitted, it gave him the confidence and the knowledge of how capable he was of attaining the distance.
That throw in Potchefstroom perhaps laid the base for Neeraj Chopra to fuel his ambition in Tokyo Olympics 2020. With every athlete struggling and not going past the 90-meter mark due to the coronavirus restrictions on training, the stage was set for Neeraj Chopra to achieve superstardom.
For many decades, India’s athletics has always been a damp squib in the Olympics. Milkha Singh and PT Usha came so close to a medal but they were always denied. The same was with Anju Bobby George in 2004 Athens. Adile Sumariwalla, the Atheltics Federation of India president, had longed to see one athlete secure a medal in his lifetime.
On August 7, Sumariwalla was in attendance at the empty stands in Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium Park. When Neeraj Chopra won the gold, the tears and emotions that Summeriwalla might have undergone cannot be explained. Neeraj Chopra’s gold gave India their seventh medal, the best-ever in the history of their Olympic participation.
The journey to gold was never easy for Neeraj Chopra. As a 11-year-old child, he was obese and at 90 kgs, everyone was wondering what will happen in his future. When he found direction, he became one of the best in the business. In appreciating Neeraj Chopra, credit must also be given to Uwe Hohn for the way how he handled the situation with Neeraj Chopra.
Bindra’s gold brought about a revolution in shooting in 2008. With Neeraj Chopra’s gold, it is now imminent that sporting brilliance can only kick off in a grand style in India.
