07th of August, 2021; as the flag was getting higher and higher, and after a few moments; the beautiful hymn- Jana Gana Mana, was played, every Indian had goosebumps and water in their eyes. One day before the closing ceremony, when almost all hope was lost, Neeraj Chopra with a massive throw of 87.58m, brought a gold medal to out country. India had shined at the Olympics this time bagging a total of 7 medals, compared to last times 2, which has already raised hopes for the next Olympics. Till date not even a single Indian has won a gold medal at the Olympics for athletics. By winning a gold medal, Neeraj carved his name into our history books. In the coming years, when students will hear his name, not only will they remember the achievements he has done or yet to, but also this 23 year old young lads inspiring journey to the Olympics.
How many of you know, that unlike PV Sindhu or Mirabai Chanu, our Neeraj Chopra is not a full time athlete. He is currently in the Indian Army and holds the position of Naib Subedar. One great lesson that we can learn from Neeraj aside from his great skill would be balancing. He balanced his career and sports, not lagging behind anywhere. But a decade ago, if you were to meet this lad, you would be surprised to find him that way. An obese kid from Panipat, who was very mischievous and also often ridiculed by his friends for weighing 90 kilos and looking like a sarpanch aka a village head, Neeraj had started to hit the gym to reduce his weight. He used to visit a gym at Madlauda, cycle 24 kilometers to and fro to reach it. He was the youngest member at the gym and he later shifted to a gym at Panipat. Here, he used to visit the Panipat Sports Authority of India, and the magic happened here. Jaiveer Singh, another Javelin thrower found the potential and skill in Neeraj Chopra, when he was able to throw the javelin for more than 40 meters that too without any prior coaching or knowledge. After this incident, Jaiveer started coaching Neeraj Chopra for Javelin throw. After an year of training from Jaiveer, Neeraj headed to Panchkula, four hours away from his home to train for Javelin and his maximum throw now was about 55m. His coach Naseem Ahmad, described Neeraj to be a very attentive student who took notes about how to be better from other players and asked more questions than usual. After this he went on the achieve a new national record a throw of 68.40 meters. Soon there was no turning back and for each competition Neeraj started to shine even better than usual and soon was throwing more than 70 meters. He had won many golds at prestigious competions like the Asian Games, Commonwealth, South Asian Games, Asian Championships, World Junior Championships and the historic recent Olympics. He has also bagged a silver medal at the Asian Junior Championships. Neeraj Chopra indeed still has a lot more to see and win, but at such a young age, he inspired and made many people proud and will continue to do so. Something that we all shpuld learn from Neeraj Chopra would be, “Dream Big, Work Hard, Stay Positive and Enjoy the journey.”
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