This article originally appeared in The Field’s newsletter, Game Points, on September 18, 2024. Sign up here to get the newsletter directly delivered to your inbox every week.
A headband keeping the hair out of his eyes and with a completely serious expression on his face, India’s Neeraj Chopra wrapped up his 2024 season with a second-place finish in the 2024 Diamond League Final. This adds to his silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, his second Olympic medal, as one of the honours he has won this year.
In both events, Chopra barely cracked a smile through the six throws. The usual signs of a Chopra throw, which include a roar as he releases the javelin and a triumphant smile, were not visible in Brussels for the Diamond League Final, nor in Paris for the Olympics.
In fact, at the Stade de France back in August, even while receiving the medal, 26-year-old Chopra managed only a wry smile as he received his prize and turned to face the flags of the medal winners.
For most athletes, a medal of any colour at the Olympics is everything and more. But for a competitor of Chopra’s calibre and talent, nothing short of gold was good enough.
It’s not just his attitude, but the numbers that showcase how high Chopra’s standards are – the Diamond League Final in Brussels was the 26th consecutive time that he had finished in the top three across international and domestic events. Across these 26 consecutive podium finishes, he has thrown less than 85m only four times.
Not only has he established himself as one of the more consistent field athletes on the world stage, he has also been an incredible ambassador for Indian athletics and Indian sports internationally. His support for fellow athletes, such as during the Indian wrestlers’ protests last year, and even his competitors has made him a unique star in the eyes of the Indian audience, who are often enamoured by much less.
As if that wasn’t enough, he has already become one of India’s most successful Olympians – only the second to win an individual gold medal and the fourth to win multiple medals in an individual discipline.
His 2024 season has been marked by a persistent groin injury that affected how he threw in Paris, in his own words. At the Diamond League Final in Brussels, he fractured a bone in his hand and competed nonetheless, finishing just a centimetre short of eventual winner Anderson Peters of Grenada.
Looking at his results from the 2024 season – two wins and and four second-place finishes to go with three of his top five best throws – one wonders: if this is what Chopra managed while injured, what would he be at a 100%?
Already, Chopra has won every major competition his sport has to offer. He is the current world champion, a former Diamond League Final winner and the 2021 Olympic gold medallist. He has won the Asian Games gold twice and won the Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2018. He’s done it all.
The only thing he has not yet achieved is crossing the illusive 90m mark.
The 90m albatross around Chopra’s neck has constantly been brought up by media worldwide throughout and it was highly anticipated that he would cross it in Paris. Over the course of the 2024 season, the question has been asked time and again and Chopra has replied with a sense of humour and a degree of humility.
“Maybe God wants me to [cross 90] somewhere else,” he said after finishing second in the Doha Diamond League stage in May.
But he has always reiterated that consistency matters to him more than crossing that barrier. And although he didn’t manage it in Paris or Brussels, he has won everything that is there to win without hitting the 90.
Right after the Paris Olympics ended, Chopra wasted no time in getting back to training at his preferred facility in Lausanne, Switzerland. His performance in Paris was dissected and work was done to ensure that he was as fit as he could be before the Lausanne Diamond League leg and, later on, the final in Brussels.
By his own admission, Chopra said that he wasn’t happy with the way his season has gone, but he has learned a lot about himself and his capabilities. An indomitable spirit, a thirst to go beyond limitations and never settling for second-best – Neeraj Chopra is one of a kind.
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