Wanted To Be A Cricketer. Then, At 13, I Took Up Javelin: Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra scripted history on Saturday by winning India’s first ever track and field gold at the Olympics. The 23-year-old from Haryana threw his javelin 87.58 metres in Tokyo, beating the competition easily.

- Abhimanyu Mathur

While India — by and large — was introduced to his genius only this past week, his journey began years ago.

PICKED UP JAVELIN TO LOSE WEIGHT AS A KID

Like most Indian kids, Neeraj, too, began playing cricket as a kid before the javelin bug bit him. “For a while, I dreamt of becoming a cricketer, but never too seriously,” Neeraj said. Growing up in rural Panipat, Neeraj was a big foodie, something that made him unathletic and overweight as a child. “I was a rather overweight kid,” Neeraj had revealed in an interaction before the Olympics. Not even a teenager, Neeraj weighed 80 kg. His uncle Bheem took him to a nearby gym. He would often visit the nearby Shivaji Stadium, where he was introduced to javelin throw at 13, a sport he didn’t know existed till then.“I used to observe the athletes at the stadium. My senior Jaiveer, who had represented Haryana in javelin, one day urged me to try my hand, too, instead of sitting idle there. I threw some 30-40 metres, a good distance for a novice,” Neeraj recalled. Jaiveer soon took him under his wing and Neeraj’s javelin training began. All this while, his family was quite oblivious of his newfound passion. “We didn’t know he was training for javelin throw. In fact, we didn’t even know there was such a sport. It was only after he won a competition and was in the news that we came to know,” says his uncle Bheem Chopra.

TOOK INSPIRATION FROM INDIAN CRICKET TEAM TO FIGHT BIO BUBBLE FATIGUE