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For a nation of 1.4 billion people and counting, India’s record at the Olympics is strangely lacklustre. More than 100 years since first fielding a team at the quadrennial spectacular, Indian athletes have come back from the Games with gold just ten times, with an overall tally of 35 medals putting the nation behind Estonia (population: 1.35 million) on the all-time table.
While similarly-sized China has poured money and resources into becoming an Olympic superpower, it’s Asian neighbour has lagged behind, the event never quite carrying cultural or economic weight. While India’s male hockey players dominated for decades, it took until 2008 for an individual Olympic champion to be unearthed, and Abhinav Bindra has been joined by only a single successor on the top step of the podium since.
But that man could be about to charm a nation as he defends his title at Paris 2024. Neeraj Chopra was one of the breakthrough stars of Tokyo 2020, hurling himself into history with javelin gold.
It was an Olympic title that came not as a total surprise but nonetheless unexpectedly. Chopra had emerged several years before Tokyo as a bright young star of field athletics, winning Commonwealth Games gold in 2018 before smashing the national record at the Asian Games.
But there would soon be a setback. Bone spurs in Chopra’s throwing right elbow forced him to miss the 2019 World Championships, with the nature of the injury requiring surgery and a stylistic re-think. Joining forces with Klaus Bartoneitz, a German biomechanics expert, Chopra returned to international competition after 16 months out and set his sights on Olympic success.
On August 7, 2021, it was achieved. Having laid down a marker by progressing through qualifying needing only a single throw, Chopra’s first two throws of the final proved unsurpassable.
“My goal was always the Tokyo Olympics,” Chopra said at the time. “I put in the hard work and trusted the process since every single effort counts when it comes to success at the highest level.
“They say a lion always takes a step back before attacking. I think of a setback in an athlete’s life like that, so I ensured that I gave my 100 per cent during the rehab phase so that I could be at my best possible shape on return.”
Born to an agricultural family in rural Haryana, the 26-year-old’s natural acumen for the javelin was established at the age of 10. Taken under the wing of Akshay Choudhary, Chopra also trained in long distance running as a teenager. With no specialist coaching, he sought footage of Jan Zelezny, copying the technique that took the Czech great to three Olympic golds.
Soon, Chopra rose through the ranks as India’s brightest prospect. He carried the flag at the 2018 Asian Games, earning the Arjuna Ward for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, the second-highest honour in Indian sport. After his Tokyo gold, an upgrade to the Khel Ratna Award was granted.
Now he will attempt to retain his title. Chopra is the reigning world champion having pipped Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem in Budapest last year, but Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, silver medallist three years ago, has shown the consistency needed to challenge the champion in what could be a thrilling event.
The wider context of Chopra’s success is important, too. India are thought to be intent on bringing the 2036 Olympics to the country, with Ahmedabad lined up as a potential host city. Talks are underway about embracing traditional Indian sports like kabbadi as part of the event, but India’s lack of Olympic heritage could pose a problem to generating interest.
While the introduction of cricket and squash for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles will help, back-to-back golds for Chopra would shoot him into the sporting stratosphere and potentially herald a new era of interest and investment in Indian Olympic sport.
