Neeraj Chopra was a 23-year-old Subedar from Panipat, and today he is an international star of the Olympics games. You may be surprised to know that Chopra was obese initially. He had to lose a lot of weight to shine in this sport. But, even after acquiring the highest honor in the athletics world, he is still not satisfied.
Neeraj Chopra Speaks Like A True Sportsman
Nearly after 100 years of the waiting period, Neeraj Chopra changes history for India. He wins a gold medal at Javelin and makes the whole nation proud. But, as he was laurelled with this award, he became more determined to conquer other sport frontiers.
He is currently setting his eyes on the World Athletics Championship held in 2022 in the U.S.A. This championship would have been held this year, but it has been postponed due to the Covid restrictions.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had arranged a conference to felicitate this sportsman on his latest victory. However, at that conference, we heard the Javelin star declaring that he won’t be enjoying his success for long as the Olympic star. He said:
“My next target is winning Gold at the World Championships next year.”
It has been barely 24 hours since the Javelin star has returned to his motherland. But, he is already making plans for his future. Indeed he would like to win the World Championships, but he doesn’t plan to retire even after that. He said:
“I would like to do even better and win Gold again in Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and again in Olympics.”
Journey Of The Javelin Star At A Glimpse
Chopra shifted from the Sivaji Stadium at Panipat to the Tau Devi Lal Stadium at Panchkula in 2015 for better training. But, luck was not yet in his favor, it seems. There were not enough good coaches, diet, training facilities, and equipment there.
But, his luck changed when he shifted to the NIS Patiala camp. Apart from getting a better diet and training, he felt blessed to practice with the best Javelin throwers of the nation. Owing to a great deal of gratitude to the AFI, Chopra first started training under Australian coach Gary Calvert.
Then, he switched his coach to the German Javelin coach, Uwe Hohn, a former record holder in this sport. Neeraj wins the gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games under his supervision. So, he said:
“I respect Hohn Sir. I won Gold in 2018 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games under him.”
But, he found Hohn’s training approach different than his needs, and that’s why he chose to switch his coach again. This time it was the bio-mechanics expert Klaus Bertonietz, and it looks like his tuning with Chopra clicked quite okay. According to Chopra, Klaus sir plans training as per the athlete’s body, so his approach suits him better. So, he informs Uwe Hohn about it and moves on to the new coach.
Conclusion
Chopra said he is still not believing that he has won a Gold in the Olympics. But, it looks like his tuning with Klaus Bertonietz did bring some fruitful results after all, and he was not wrong to change his coach. So, we hope he continues to demonstrate such outstanding performance in the future also and wins the World Championship next year.
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