The Rio Olympics 2016, which concluded a few days back have ensured our faith in girl power. With two medals, one being Silver and one Bronze, Indian girl athletes won many hearts. The star shuttler PV Sindhu won silver in Badminton and terrific wrestler Sakshi Malik won the Bronze medal. The entire country is proud of them. But along with them all, there is an athlete who was not able to make an impression in Rio Olympics instead of being full of talent. Yesterday, an athlete Neeraj Chopra had achieved his record breaking javelin throw of 86.48 meters. If he had performed the same way a few days back in Rio Olympics, he would have represented India in Rio Olympics or even grabbed a medal of the country.
The 18-year-old athlete has written history and became first Indian Track and field athlete to become a world champion at any level and creating a new U-20 world record in the process. His throw at the U-20 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland is among the top eight in the world at the time.
While interacting with the media after winning, he said,
“Olympics ke liya qualifying ka 11 July last date tha, mera 23 July ko that toh Olympics qualify nahi kar paya. (The last date for Olympic qualification was 11 July; my event was on 23 July so I could not qualify.) The bronze went at 85, so if I had gone and had the same performance, maybe I would have got the medal for the country.” He added that, “Main vishwas dila ta hoon ki agar JSW Sports aise hi support karta raha aur main fit raha aur achi training karta raha, main 2020 Olympics main medal dila ke rahunga (I assure you that if I stay fit, train hard and have the support of JSW Sports, I will bring home a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics).”
It is to be noted that this is not the first achievement of this Haryana Athlete, earlier in 2016; he won the Gold at Guwahati with a personal best score of 82.23m. In the month of May, he had produced his best form since SAF Games to grab the Silver medal at the Zygmunta Selesta Memorial in Warsaw, Poland. This shows that this Indian athlete will have a promising future.
When asked about his win and making a world record, there was an immediate grin on his face and said,
“Bahut proud moment tha jab rahstriya gaana baja aur tiranga jhanda upar jaa raha tha. Acha laga ki world record desh ke naam kiya hain,” (It was a moment of great pride when India’s national anthem played and the tricolour flag was raised, was happy that I could make a world record for the country).”
With his awesome performance, he has not only made India proud but has also has given a rope to many other players and athletes that hard work can pay you in the best possible way. This world class player has the potential to achieve bigger things with the right training and preparation.
