Paris 2024: Neeraj Chopra Turns Custodian Of Hope As India Dreams For Gold

As Neeraj Chopra gets ready to beat the odds once more and compete for Olympic gold for a second time, the stakes couldn’t get any higher. Victory will make him the most decorated Indian athlete at the Olympics in any individual sport. 

Currently, shuttler PV Sindhu – with one silver and one bronze, wrestler Sushil Kumar – with one silver and one bronze, and shooter Manu Bhaker – with two bronzes hold two Olympic medals each, all post independence.

Enthrown in a fantastic throw, which is the second-best of his career performance-wise, Chopra has thus silenced the biggest question that people had going into the Games: his fitness. The athlete had confessed to carrying an adductor niggle into the Games. Of course, his personal best remains an impressive 89.94 meters, achieved in 2022.

This 89.34 meters he recorded is not only sealing his place as one among the top contenders but has also revived the hopes of millions of Indian fans who are awaiting the day—Thursday—when perhaps Chopra would cross the elusive 90-meter mark. Noteworthy is the fact that this effort stands as the second-best throw in the qualifying rounds at the Olympics, only after the legendary Jan Zelezny’s 89.39 meters during the 2000 Sydney Games.

But right before Neeraj Chopra enters the fray to defend that gold, just so dear, let us take a moment to recollect those world-beating achievements that have defined this illustrious career.

Neeraj Chopra once again has found himself as the custodian of dreams as India would be banking on him for that elusive Olympic gold medal at Paris Olympics 2024.

The Sportz Planet Desk,
Atharva Shetye