After Neeraj Chopra won the historic Olympic gold, he came back to India, gave the interviews he had to give, attended the events he had to attend, and then went back to work. He said that he does not want to be distracted because an Olympic medal is not where his career ends. It is thanks to that unflinching dedication that he is now the first Indian to win a silver at the World Athletics Championships.
What sets Neeraj apart from his contemporaries is also the respect he gives to his competitors, without caring about his own ‘image’. His sense of morality has always been worthy of appreciation. Back in 2021, when Indians would not stop saying the meanest things about Pakistani javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, it was Neeraj who stood up for him.
And yet again, following his World Athletics Championships victory, Neeraj only had words of appreciation for Nadeem, who battled injury to return to the sport.
I spoke to Arshad after the competition ended. I told him that he did very well. He replied that he had issues with his elbow. I further congratulated him for a great throw, and it was a great comeback from his injury and it was commendable that he threw the javelin over 86 metres.
Now, to go back to his performance, while Neeraj is happy to have won a medal for the country at the event after 19 years, he is a little disappointed because, well, “it is not gold”.
Now, I just have a greater hunger to change the colour of this medal to gold in the next Worlds.
If he keeps at it the way he has, we have no doubt that the color of the medal is going to change soon enough.