Neeraj Chopra created history by winning India’s first gold medal in a track and field event at the Olympics in Tokyo.
In an exclusive interview with CNN-News18′s Shivani Gupta, Neeraj Chopra revealed what inspired him to join the Indian Army and what impact his injury as well as his elbow injury had on him ahead of his historic feat.
Neeraj got a direct entry as Naib Subedar in the Indian Army in May 2016 under the sports quota. His parent unit is 4 Rajputana Rifles.
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In fact, as a rule, no player is directly recruited into the rank of Naib Subedar in the Army, but Neeraj’s stellar record helped him get the rank of Naib Subedar.
After joining the Army he was selected to get trained at the Mission Olympic Wing and Army Sports Institute in Pune. Mission Olympic Wing is essentially an initiative of the Indian Army to train its promising sportspersons.
“Watched in movies that the Indian Army, their bravery and discipline and especially the uniform are something I liked," Neeraj told CNN-News18.
“The Army’s discipline is something else, even though an athlete is disciplined but the army is something else. Their courage is also something that helped me," he added.
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In 2019, Neeraj had suffered a career-threatening injury, after he developed spurs in his elbow.
Talking about his injury, Neeraj said: “I was scared. The Olympics was nearing and the World Championships was in the same year. The injury came at the wrong time and when the doctor told me that I needed surgery, it won’t heal easily. I was unsure how much time it would take for me to recover and make a comeback. When I spoke to Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, he reassured me and gave me hope. He said that it will be okay quite easily, will take time but I can be my old self again."
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“After the surgery, it was taking time to get my full strength back in my arm, I used to worry how it all will be. But once my strength was back and I started training again, worked on my fitness, I found different energy in me. I think I started understanding my body better, when and how much I should train. Got to learn a lot after the injury."
“After getting back, I threw my second best and qualified for the Olympics in South Africa. I felt I am back and I can give my 100% again," he added.
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When asked about him moving from Uwe Hohn to Klaus Bartonietz, Neeraj Chopra revealed his reason.
“His (Hohn) training and technique were quite different. My performances were good but I felt that somewhere coach Hohn’s methods, were not working. My body is very flexible and the coach’s training was quite hard and rigorous, especially with his focus on strength. My technique and training were changing. I spoke to Klaus and trained with him a bit and I felt he understands me a bit better. An athlete’s career is very short and I feel if one is sure, then one should make the decision," he said.
“When I spoke to Hohn, he told me to go ahead if I was sure. I was scared at first as to how he would react if he would feel bad. He said if I feel good about it, I should go ahead," he added.
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Neeraj Chopra also revealed that after getting back to fitness, the Covid-19 pandemic threatened his Olympic dreams too.
“I was worried that the Olympics would be cancelled after it was already postponed. It would have been really tragic for me after missing the 2016 edition. It would have been that two of the Olympics that I should have been at, I would have missed."
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“I was not completely negative as I knew it will not be just me but all the athletes around the world. I realised that I got one year extra to train and improve myself and probably took advantage of it too."
“When it was a complete lockdown and I couldn’t train at the stadium. Had to stay just in our rooms."
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