It’s 12.35 in the morning. Neeraj Chopra has finally stepped outside the security gates of the Stade de Paris. The 26-year-old is exhausted. He has been on his feet since at least early that evening when he was competing in the men’s javelin throw competition.
Perhaps if the outcome were different, adrenaline would still be carrying him. But it isn’t.
Neeraj has just been dethroned as the Olympic champion. And he looks tired.
He has answered questions in the mixed zone and a press conference where seven of the 10 questions were directed at him, not the actual winner of the competition, Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan.
He then goes through the process of dope control before exiting the stadium to answer questions from TV reporters on video. He’ll be out there talking until nearly 2:45 a.m.
There’s a mad rush to be the first to get a camera in his face. Reporters jostle against each other and bargain for his time — three minutes per person, then down to two. It’s all a bit chaotic. A volunteer looks aghast. But this is Neeraj Chopra, and everyone wants a moment with him.
Journalists busy asking questions to Neeraj after his javelin throw final. And he takes time to answer every one of them. | Photo Credit: Jonathan Selvaraj
He comes outside the gates without anything around his neck. The medal ceremony, where he will be awarded a silver medal, will be conducted on Friday night.
He’s still won silver, you think. He’s come through one of the toughest fields to place himself on the podium.
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“This is the greatest competition I’ve been a part of,” he says at the press conference, and this is probably true. Fifth place here would have won gold in Tokyo. If Nadeem’s winning throw was an Olympic record, Neeraj’s 89.45m is the biggest throw to have ever won an Olympic silver.
This medal is yet another point in favour of the argument that he is among the greatest of Indian ports. He has been on the podium of every competition he has competed in in the last six years.
His medal is also the best result for an Indian at these Games; the other four medals won have all been bronze. Just like at the Tokyo Games, Neeraj has been the high point of the Indian performance in Paris.
There are still Indian competitors remaining in the fray — in golf and wrestling — but realistically, Neeraj’s silver medal is where the campaign has peaked. His is a remarkable achievement.
Anyone would be happy. But Neeraj isn’t just any Indian.
He is the country’s only Olympic champion in athletics. He’s also the reigning world champion. All his career, he has made excellence seem like the default and not the exception that needed a once-in-a-generation athlete to unearth.
Neeraj Chopra, of India, competes during the men’s javelin throw final at the 2024 Summer Olympics. | Photo Credit: AP
At his press conference and, previously, in the mixed zone, he has expressed praise for his rival from Pakistan. He speaks about how God was with him for the previous 10 encounters between the two, but how on the biggest stage on earth, Nadeem’s talent and hard work were the difference.
He cracks a few self-deprecating jokes about his inability to translate his words accurately in English — a language he has become remarkably proficient in over just the last three years — and to make anything but foul throws (he made just the one legitimate attempt) and how the third-place finisher has the same set of injuries as he does.
He takes time out to give context to India’s performance at the Games and also share his thoughts about wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who was herself in contention for a gold medal but was disqualified after turning up 100gm above the weight limit.
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He credits her courage and mental strength. Everyone has had their opinion on the matter. But Neeraj’s is the one that matters.
Everyone wants to know what he thinks on this issue. Just as they do in the early morning outside the Stade de France, everyone wants a piece of him.
Neeraj has been giving away pieces of himself for a while now.
He has a silver medal but admits he is hurt because he hasn’t been able to perform as well as he wanted. He reveals that he has been carrying an injury in his groin over the last seven years — one year longer than his remarkable run of always finishing among the medals.
It’s an injury that preys on his mind. He will go several months in the best shape of his career before he will feel the dread of a sudden twinge inside his inner thigh. He constantly thinks about his injury.
When he throws, he says 70 per cent of his thoughts are about whether he will get injured. His runway approach was characterised by speed. He’s slowed down considerably now.
He compensates for the lack of speed by using his arm even more. Compared to the massive muscles of the leg, Neeraj’s far smaller right shoulder and arm now do all the work.
Compared to other athletes who are throwing 40 to 50 times each session, Neeraj says he is only able to have one throwing session every couple of weeks.
He almost does it. Even after Arshad threw a massive 92.97m, Neeraj didn’t think he was done. Slow off the runway, using almost exclusively his arm to propel the javelin, he nearly gets to 90m himself.
At the finals of the Olympics, though, his groin wasn’t being helpful. His fouls are a consequence of his overthinking about a potential injury — a vicious circle.
He thinks about a possible injury during a run-up. That is followed by a poor one and consequently an ‘X’ against his name when he can’t find the foul line. It’s a sequence that he says mentally breaks him.
Neeraj Chopra had only one legal throw in the men’s javelin throw final, which secured his silver at the Olympic Games. | Photo Credit: Ritu Raj Konwar/The Hindu
You can tell Neeraj is hurting after the event. He has spoken before about the reason he got into the javelin. He does it because he loves it — he loves to throw. But throwing is hard for him right now.
He is doing it with a handicap. He’d love to throw freely. The fact that he has been as consistent as he is is entirely due to hard work and injury management. His coaches say he can add three to four meters if he finally gets his groin treated.
That’s what Neeraj wants, too.
“There is a big throw inside me, but I’m not able to do it. Medals are one thing. But I want to get the distance I had in 2018 when I first threw 88m at the Asian Games. I feel I have a lot of good throws in me. I will not be able to get peace until I get that,” he says.
Neeraj has been thinking of getting surgery to treat his groin for the last several years. However the procedure is complex, and recovery will take several months. While this might be the time that Neeraj has, it isn’t the time India has.
“My doctor told me to do surgery before the last world championships. But I didn’t have the time to decide before or after the world championships because it takes a lot of time to prepare for the Olympics,” he says.
“ Khainch ke chal raha hu,” Neeraj says. He’s been dragging himself to this finish line.
Only now that he has reached it — given his country another Olympic medal — does Neeraj think he can do what he really needs to do. He will talk to his doctors and confirm just when he will get the surgery he so desperately needs.
“You guys are satisfied right?” he asks. Only when everyone is, he heads backs to the Olympic village. | Photo Credit: Ritu Raj Konwar/The Hindu
But not on Thursday.
On Thursday, Neeraj had one solitary goal. While he fell just short of the step he had hoped to stand on the podium, he’s done more than everyone before him.
He wants to make sure about that too. When he comes into the mixed zone, that’s what he wants to know as well. “You guys are satisfied, right?” he asks.
Only when everyone is does he finally head back to the Olympic Village.
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