‘Watching Neeraj, I fell in love with javelin throw’
MUMBAI: PT Usha remembers watching a teenaged Neeraj Chopra running in, loading up and hurling the javelin inside the Zdzislaw Krzyszkowiak Stadium in Bydgoszcz, Poland, to win the World U-20 Championships in 2016. “It was just beautiful,” she says. Five years later watching from home, Usha saw Chopra do his thing again in Tokyo; this time to win an Olympic gold medal, India’s first in athletics.
The legendary athlete stands a prominent figure in India’s so-near-yet-so-far Olympics folklore, delivering a famous one at the 1984 Los Angeles Games where she finished fourth in the 400m hurdles by the barest of margins—1/100th of a second. Chopra’s medal, thus, has filled the four-time Asian Games gold medallist with happiness and hope of a brighter future for Indian athletics. Excerpts:
When he came up for his first throw, he did so good, and the others didn’t. And then in his second throw, he did even better, while the favourites faltered. So that’s when I thought this could belong to Neeraj; this night belongs to India. I thought that he will get a medal, but he actually won gold! A gold is gold. He came to the Olympics for the first time and delivered. It’s an incredible achievement.
What has been the key aspect in the Chopra’s success story?
He is such a dedicated, focused, disciplined and a very down-to-earth boy. It’s rare to find athletes like that nowadays, especially the young ones. If you win even one tournament or medal, people can think they have become big. But he is always humble—even now.
I saw him from close quarters at the junior Worlds. Actually, after seeing his throws, I started watching, following the sport more closely. The way he released the javelin, the way it flew—it was a thing of beauty. For a sport like javelin throw, only if you’re physically there watching it from up close, will you get the feel of it. And I simply loved it. It’s there that I realised how focused the boy was.
He had the urge to train not only in the field but also outside. He would imitate his technique even in the place where all athletes stayed, or when he was just strolling around. I also used to do that in my time—practice the hurdles technique in my room, while walking or running. It showed how dedicated and focused he was. Yes, he has the talent, but these qualities stand out equally. Plus, he is young. He can keep going for several years, even do much better in the coming Olympics. Before Tokyo, he had an injury, got operated, went through rehabilitation, came back and did this. So I am confident we can continue expecting great things from him in the future. I expect him to get a medal even at the World Championships (next year).
Neeraj didn’t have enough competitions heading into Tokyo. How difficult can it get for athletes to come back after a long break and find their rhythm so soon?
It’s very difficult. You need a strong mind for that. If the mind says the injury and competitions are nothing, the body will believe it’s nothing. Before going to the LA Olympics, I had participated in only two competitions in 400m hurdles. Yet I came close to a medal. So if your mind is strong, you can achieve anything. Just like Neeraj did. Maybe, if he had more competitions, he could have thrown even better. But Neeraj’s mind was stuck on winning a medal. That’s the sense I got from the outside, and that is the reason I believe he won the gold. In his mind, he was never in doubt about winning a medal.
But that can lead to pressure as well, right?
I think he was aware that people expected a medal from him, and that can create pressure, no doubt. But he is very calm naturally. That’s why even after he won, he looked so calm.
Indian athletics and Olympics have for long been a tale of iconic near-misses, and you’ve also been a part of one. India is finally on the medals tally now...
It’s such a great achievement. I was so, so close. But in our time, there were not many facilities, not much exposure and not much experience of competing at the big stages. That is not the case now. Indians train and compete abroad, there are foreign coaches, technical expertise, biomechanics and many other things. Neeraj has already won the junior Worlds, and had the experience of competing with most of the finalists before. So he didn’t feel the weight of a world-class field. But even with all this change and improvement, a lot of them don’t win medals. Neeraj has done it. It will do a world of good for Indian sports, especially Indian athletics.
Let’s take my (academy) students, for example. I tell them, “I came close to winning an Olympic medal, you can also achieve it”. But they haven’t seen it; they are only hearing about it. But now, if I say, “Neeraj has won a medal; India has won a medal”, it has an even bigger impact on them, they have watched it. You feel inspired hearing stories, but you also need to see them. Now, both these pieces have come together. It will only motivate and inspire the young generation even more.
How can the momentum of this medal be sustained moving forward?
It is tough. When Abhinav Bindra won the (2008 Olympics) gold, people started asking me whether we have a shooting range in my academy! Everyone knew that my academy was only for athletics. But that is the kind of instant impact Bindra’s medal had on shooting back then. So this will inspire athletes, no doubt. But people should not forget about this in six months. We should build on this for the long term; provide the young athletes whatever they require in order to put them in a position to win a medal for the country. We should give a lot of importance to raw talent—i can’t stress this enough.
Moving away from Chopra, what would you say to Aditi Ashok, who, like you, has to deal with a fourth-place finish at an Olympics?
I felt very bad. I know exactly how she must be feeling. The same goes with the women’s hockey team. But they should not feel low. They should find the strength in that feeling—that we can do even better in the next Olympics, which is not far away.
How much did you enjoy the record-breaking 400m hurdles races in Tokyo?
I saw both the men and women. Both were amazing races. It seemed like they weren’t even worried about the hurdles in between; they were just running like it was a 400m race!