Bringing home India's second-ever gold medal won at the Olympics, the star sportsman from Panipat, Neeraj Chopra, speaks about what it takes to overcome hardship and become a track athlete.
On 7 August, India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra clinched the country’s second-ever individual gold medal at the Olympics. The first was bagged back in 2008 by Abhinav Bindra.
But behind every successful athlete is a story of trials, tribulations and sheer determination. The same is true for Chopra, who championed personal battles and background constraints to ace this momentous milestone with perfection.
Interestingly, at the young age of 12, the track star weighed a hefty 90 kilos. His training in sports began only as a way to get healthy, even though he was never interested in it. Little did he know then that this was going to lead to his success.
It was a chance meeting with javelin thrower Jai Choudhary, during a morning run, that his potential in the sport was discovered.
Hailing from Khandra village of Panipat, Chopra comes from a humble family of farmers. Back then, to take up a career in sports required shelling major chunks of family savings.
But this gritty sportsman made it all worth it with his persevering training and go-getter attitude. He held on through injury, failure and hardship to become nothing less than the finest.
Till date, Neeraj uses every challenge to move closer to his goals. It is probably this focussed approach that has won him accolades across multiple renowned platforms through the years. He has been a gold medallist at the Asian Athletic Championships, the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2018 Asian Games.
Watch the journey of this start sportsman to become India’s golden javelin thrower:
Watch: This is how #NeerajChopra, India's finest javelin thrower, trains for his sport. Watching this, we would never have guessed that he once had to battle severe obesity!
Read his inspiring story here:https://t.co/RdJb4GSVBh
VC: Neeraj Chopra pic.twitter.com/pO2T6jhCoz
— The Better India (@thebetterindia) August 4, 2021
Edited by Yoshita Rao
Feature Image Source: Twitter
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