From being an Olympic Champion in Tokyo to ending India’s 19 year long medal wait by winning silver at the 2022 World Athletic Championship, India’s talisman Neeraj Chopra has put India on the World Athletics map in the last two years.
The 24 year old has been nothing but impressive in all of the tournaments he has taken part in. After his historic Olympic Gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj got back to training after some months during which the athlete was felicitated by his country for winning the nation’s first ever Olympic gold in Athletics.
However, the life of an athlete has to be a disciplined one and as soon as the felicitations came to an end, Neeraj and his team got back to work and after a long 10 month gap, started his competitive season at the Paavo Nurmi Games in June 2022.
The rigorous training program paid off for the Olympic champion as he came up with a Personal Best of 89.30m, breaking his own national record in the process.
No better feeling than being back on the track! Very happy to start my 2022 season with a Personal Best throw 89.30m. Thank you @paavonurmigames for a great experience and congrats to Oliver Helander for the win. Next stop @KuortaneGames.
आप सभी के support के लिए धन्यवाद | 🇮🇳🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/FO7INKMagq
— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) June 15, 2022
Neeraj followed his amazing comeback with another record smashing throw of 89.94 in the Stockholm Diamond League. He missed the 90m mark by just 6 centimetres.
It felt amazing to be back on the Diamond League circuit and even better to get a new PB!
All the throwers put up a great show tonight for the crowd in Stockholm!Next stop ➡️ Representing 🇮🇳 at the World Championships in Eugene pic.twitter.com/OpiXyrp4wv
— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) June 30, 2022
Neeraj’s only goal for the tournaments to come was to keep improving his performances and win as many medals for the nation as he can.
That objective was completed yet again when he took to the track at the World Athletic Championships last week and bagged the silver medal with a throw of 88.13m only behind the defending World Champion Andersen Peters who managed to pass the 90m mark in all three of his throws.
This was India’s second medal at the World Championships and the first podium finish since Anju Bobby George won a bronze medal in long jump at Paris in 2003.
“I am happy to have won silver, the country’s first medal in the World Athletics Championships after 19 years, I will take it. The World Championships is even tougher than the Olympics, its record is higher than that of Olympics,” said Neeraj after his World Championships heroics.
The 24-year-old Indian further said, one cannot get gold each time but he will focus and concentrate on training and improvement in order to win the yellow medal in next year’s World Championships.
“An athlete cannot win a gold every time but we have to keep trying and give our best. I have learned a lot from the challenging situation today, and I will work for improvement,” Chopra said.
“I have won gold at all levels except this World Championships silver. So, hunger is there to win gold. I will try to change the colour of the metal (to gold) in the next World Championships in 2023 (in Budapest). The other competition I want to win gold in is the Diamond League,” he added.
When asked to whom he would dedicate the silver medal, the star athlete said, “Anju Bobby George madam won India’s first medal? Everybody who has played a part in my success and those who are praying for my success, I would like to dedicate to them.”