Chopra, dressed in a blue ensemble
Chopra, dressed in a blue ensemble, is perched on a stool while hairdressers fix his floppy mop that was hanging out of the cap he was wearing backwards when he came in.
The backdrop has been unfurled, the lights have been adjusted, and the flashes have been tested.
In the meantime, the stylist and photographer are holding a last-minute mini-conference to determine whether a scarlet trunk.
Which has been kept out of the frame up until this point, would enhance the overall aesthetic.
Even though the guffaws that follow prove that he can throw a joke as well as a javelin.
It comes as no surprise that the reigning Olympic champion is all too familiar with paparazzi-speak.
However, it is also fitting that the mascot of Indian athletics uses a phrase that represents a journey.
Because few recent sporting careers have taken a flight as glorious as his:
From being a rough kid in the Khandra village in Haryana to becoming India’s first individual gold medalist at the Olympics in athletics.
But that’s not all.
Chopra has only picked up where he left off this year, even though his throw of 87.58 meters at the Tokyo Games in 2021 made him a national hero.
He became only the second Indian after long jumper Anju Bobby George to win a medal at the prestigious Games when he took home a silver medal at the World Athletics Championships in July;
He became the only Indian to win the prestigious Diamond League, an annual series of elite track and field competitions, later in the year.
Given his enormous accomplishments, Chopra has given Indian athletics a voice and weight on the international stage at the age of 25.
But if you ask him, Chopra doesn’t count the medals. I didn’t start throwing javelin to win a lot of games. I started playing the sport for fun.
He states, “I am addicted to the training sessions and love throwing the javelin.”
Chopra began training with Naseem Ahmad at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula, which had one of the few synthetic tracks in the area, when he was 14 years old.
He was able to learn more quickly than the other kids I trained.
Neeraj would pick up in half the time what the others would learn in a year, according to Ahmad
In any case, what likewise stood apart was that even external preparation hours Chopra was submerged into the game.
Perusing YouTube on his portable in his extra opportunity to watch recordings of worldwide competitors.
According to friend and high jumper Tejaswin Shankar, who sporadically trained with him during their formative years.
Javelin remained his obsession even when he moved from Panchkula to NIS Patiala and later hotfooted between cities and countries for training.
He walks, thinks, and breathes like a javelin.
He will attach anything else you discuss with him to a javelin. His intensity of focus is almost infectious.