Tokyo Olympics: Neeraj Chopra's Greatest Conquest - His Own Mind
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Neeraj Chopra owned the greatest of sporting stages, winning the Javelin Throw gold in the Olympic Games in Tokyo on Saturday and pinning myriad freeze frames in our minds. Forever. And, quite instinctively, every Indian would have seen a bit of oneself in the down-to-earth and humble champion.
Neeraj, him of the big-event temperament, dominated the field which included six throwers ranked higher than him on the World Athletics Javelin Throw chart. Never has an Indian athlete, across several sport, bossed his or her event in the Olympic Games like he did on Saturday night.
He scattered the opposition with his first throw of 87.03m and followed it up with a bigger 87.58m on his second attempt. He was business-like, professional and in a world of his own, but he filled the hearts with joy and pride. It was the result of his skill, focusing on finding optimum power at the time of the release to send the spear soaring away into the night sky.
On an assortment of screens, TV sets, laptops, mobile phones, we watched him stay calm and let his throwing be the best form of expression. Of course, we also watched him applaud Johannes Vetter, who has thrown the greatest distance among the contemporary competitors. And we saw him merely spread his arms when he had confirmation that the gold was his.
Besides the obvious manner in which he made the others realise that they were fighting for the minor medals, Neeraj’s greatest conquest on Saturday night was with his own mind. In keeping it free of clutter – he calls it “idhar-udharkibaatein” – he ensured that he could deliver his best show.
