Not surprised by gold, says first coach

NEW DELHI: From an overweight 13 year-old in 2011 to an Asian Games champion in 2018, the journey of Neeraj Chopra is quite intriguing. Seven years ago, Surinder Chopra observed that his nephew Neeraj was developing a bulge around his waist.

Lack of outdoor activity options in Khandra — a nondescript village around 30 minutes from Panipat (Haryana) — meant Surinder had no option but to push the teenager into some kind of fitness regimen. So whenever he went to Panipat for some work, Surinder used to take Neeraj along and drop him at Panipat’s Shivaji Stadium where a family friend oversaw his pursuit of fitness.

It was sheer coincidence he met former national level javelin thrower Jai Choudhary at the stadium. One day Choudhary asked Neeraj to try javelin. “Neeraj’s approach was like a seasoned thrower. Despite being a novice, he had good technique. I told him to continue training and he agreed,” said Choudhary from Panipat.

“He was very dedicated and ready to work hard. That made him extra-ordinary. Since he was a regular at the stadium he started slimming down as well.”

Since there were no frequent means of public transport from Neeraj’s village to Panipat, the athlete and coach shifted to Panchkula near Chandigarh where facilities were far better. During training, according to Choudhary, the focus was on technique. “Since he had good strength we never did any gym workout but fundamental strength drills to improve throwing skills,” said the coach. “Since he was very hard working, he improved rapidly.”

In 2013 he participated in the World Youth Championships held in Ukraine but didn’t finish at the podium. Two years later, when Neeraj represented Haryana at the National Games in Kerala, he caught the eyes of Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and was inducted in the junior coaching programme.

After winning gold at the 2016 South Asian Games in Guwahati with a national record of 82.23m, Neeraj missed the cut for Rio Olympics. AFI’s decision to appoint Australian javelin throw expert Garry Calvert — who died earlier this year — helped Neeraj polish his technique. The Australian guided Neeraj to a sensational javelin gold at the U-20 World Athletics Championships in Poland with a record throw of 86.48m. And so it wasn’t a surprise for Choudhary when Neeraj became Asian Games champion on Monday. “It was on the cards.”