Everyone knows Neeraj Chopra the ace athlete, who went on to win the Tokyo 2020 Olympics gold, and many laurels after that, but not many know that he was a pudgy kid and was never expected to make it big in sports. Talking on the ‘Fit India Champions’ podcast released on Saturday, Neeraj opened up on how no one believed in him that he would make it big.
“I had excess flab when I was young and people kept telling me I cannot get into sport because of being obese and overweight. Listening to all these, however, never made me feel mentally down. I wanted to turn around my physique and rectify it.
“Everything changed when I went to the stadium in 2011 and took up javelin,” Chopra revealed on the podcast.
“That’s when my journey started and in 2021, I bagged the gold in Tokyo. I’m happy to have given my 100 percent. The medal was an added bonus but all I wanted was to be happy with my performance,” Chopra added.
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Chopra also went on to praise fellow athletes Murali Sreeshankar, and Avinash Sable, who have come up with decent performances in the last couple of years. “Every sport is growing leaps and bounds in the country from chess to archery to shooting and athletics.
“I’m also particularly impressed by (long jumper) Sreeshankar Murali and (steeplechaser) Avinash Sable. India is doing well across all sports,” Chopra mentioned.
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