PARIS: Neeraj Chopra wiped the sweat off his face and got up to leave. It had been a long day. Midnight was just round the corner. His press conference duties were over. He was spent physically and mentally.
“The TV duties are still there Neeraj, for the Indian media,” came the reminder. He could have said ‘no’ and walked away.He did not. He was willing to tell his Paris story one more time. Tricolour draped around his shoulders, he walked wearily towards the L entrance gate. The cameras were being set up there. He was there till 2.45 am, talking about things he has never spoken about before.
One saw two faces of Neeraj Chopra here. One after the qualification race on Tuesday. He had aced it, topped it with a throw of 89.34m. He was relaxed, smiling when he came to the mixed zone. There was no hint of apprehension, anxiety or any discomfort. He did not reveal anything about the groin niggle that had started to bother him again, putting doubts in his mind.
He said he had healed well and was excited to defend his title. There were no doubts anymore. He was in a comfort zone, secure. Well, he was surprised and annoyed by how things changed two days later at the Stade de France.
After he fouled his first throw, he was still relaxed. Then came the bolt. He saw Nadeem Arshad‘s javelin travelling in the air, like a dream. It kept going on and on. When it landed, Neeraj’s body language changed. 92.97m! How was he going to catch up with that?
“I have been in the 88-89m range for years now. But I know deep inside that I have 3-4m (more) in me. There is a big throw inside me,” Neeraj said later.
Neeraj tried to find that when his turn to throw came. Going back to the video footage one can see that he was tense after Nadeem’s throw. He was backing himself to go for his biggest one ever. 2-3m more than ever.
“I felt good on that second throw. I believe in my arm. Accha jhatka diya (it was a good throw). But at the back of my mind, I was worried about a foul. I always am these days. I was worried about my leg block due to my groin niggle,” he revealed later.
Neeraj managed 89.45m. It was good for a silver medal. So far. But his mind had been taken over by that Nadeem throw. He was tense, he was worried, and he was angry at himself. Neeraj and Nadeem have been throwing on the international circuit together since 2016. Nadeem had never beaten him before Thursday night. That rivalry was certainly playing on his mind.
Neeraj kept changing his mark on the runway, try after try. It did not help. He failed to get another valid throw. After his fifth foul, he simply shrugged his shoulders and packed his bag.
Silver it was, then. but for him it was simply not enough.
“My congrats to Arshad. I’ve been competing with him since 2016 (SAF Games, Guwahati). And this is the first time that he has won competing against me. Such is sport… we have to accept it, move on and resolve to work harder,” Neeraj said.