Bhubaneswar: Star India javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is proud, rather than being under pressure, of being a medal hope for India and says that he wants to set an example for the young generation to pursue the sport.
“I’m happy that I am counted as a medal favourite for India. Because in a country like India, hoping for a medal in athletics, has always been rare. And I’m glad I can change that and will try my best to prove to be worthy of my countrymen’s hopes,” said Neeraj, while addressing media persons on the sidelines of the Ekamra Sports Literary Festival here, Saturday.
Earlier, people rarely believed that an Indian athlete would give tough contest to world class athletes in javelin throw in the Olympics. However, Neeraj changed that thought for good with his consistent performances the stunned the world.
“Actually I feel proud that now I am setting a tone for the sport in India. I never felt any pressure of being a medal hope. Rather I have enjoyed it a lot. My achievements can motivate the youngsters pursue the sport without a second thought,” said the Haryana lad when asked whether he felt any pressure on being a medal hope.
Neeraj hogged limelight when he set a world record in javelin throw at the 2016 Junior World Championships with a throw of 86.48m. He was just 18 at that time. Some incredible performances by Neeraj led Rio Olympics silver medallist Julius Yego to shower praises on him. Yego said that most the record holders had failed to cross the 80m mark, even by an inch, during their teens.
“Yes. These kinds of comments always motivate an athlete to work even harder. I was really happy after Yego made such comments about me. Hopefully, I can perform well at the Tokyo Games,” he said.
Neeraj also shared an interesting incident when asked about one of his on-air journeys. “Yes, I remember that. I was on a flight, travelling from Abu Dhabi to Frankfurt. But while the flight was in the air, due to some reasons, the lights went off for 10-15 seconds and we felt like the plane was going down in full speed.”
“I was using my headphone at that time and when I put off that earphone, I saw that everyone was crying and praying. I just said ‘why were you all crying, if we have to die we will, no one can stop.’ But when we landed comfortably, I felt relaxed,” said the Haryana lad with a smile on his face.
When asked if he has any plans to act in movies if he gets any opportunity as he has very good looks, Neeraj said: “To be an actor, I have to act and I’m very poor at it.”
