Kolkata: Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra’s ground-breaking performance in Tokyo Olympics was easily the biggest high in Indian sport last year - earning him a nomination for the Laureus Breakthrough Award of the Year. Lord Sebastian Coe, President of World Athletics and the legendary middle distance athlete, revealed what Chopra’s gold medal meant to him at a personal level ahead of announcement of the awards next month.
“I have done my level best to be entirely neutral when I’m watching competitions but my impartiality in Tokyo was really tested to its limit because my grandfather was Indian, my mother was born in Delhi and brought up in India, so I have obviously very strong emotional ties to that country. Chopra’s win that night had me, Adille (Sumariwala), the president of India Track and Field and one of my executive board colleagues from India, Sunil, all three of us standing there in tears at the win.
Speaking to Laureus.com on the occasion of the Oscar of sporting awards showcasing Chopra’s achievement on Friday, Coe said: “I’ve spoken to many of my friends in Indian athletics who were saying that for the first time for a long time, young people in India are talking about track and field and even thinking about a career in track and field where their first port of call would probably have been cricket.”
I have done my level best to be entirely neutral when I’m watching competitions but my impartiality in Tokyo was really tested to its limit because my grandfather was Indian, my mother was born in Delhi and brought up in India, so I have obviously very strong emotional ties to that country
It will be a tough call for the jury as Chopra is nominated along with tennis stars Daniil Medvedev and Emma Raducanu, FC Barcelona’s Pedri, Venezuelan triple jump world recordholder Yulimar Rojas and Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus. However, the 24-year-old Indian athlete says the reognition has spurred him on to set the bar higher - right from crossing the the 90-metres work to emulating his Tokyo feat in the World Championship to defending his Commonwealth Games and Asian Games gold medals in a busy 2022.
“The gold medal has motivated me in life to do even better. Performing well and ending up on the podium will be my target in the World Championship which is going to take place in July. Besides that, there are other big tournaments lined up this year such as Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Diamond League Final. All of these are really major tournaments,’’ Chopra told the Laureus media.
“While training, it always comes to mind that I have to win medals in all these major tournaments. I have won a gold medal in Commonwealth and Asian Games and I would like to repeat my performance there. I represented India in the World Championship held in London but I couldn’t get into the finals there, so I’ll try my best to finish the tournament on the podium this year.”
Chopra has also set his sights on achieving a new personal best in 2022, which stands at 88.03 metres. “When it comes to achieving a specific distance, we have been trying to reach the 90 metres mark for a very long time now. I think I can really do it sometime soon in the near future. There’s no pressure on me to get past 90 metres, but I will work on my technique along with my strength and speed and would like to achieve it this year,’’ he added.
