Excellence, thy name is Neeraj Chopra! Indeed,if there is one Indian athlete who believes that the pursuit of excellence does never end with one achievement here or there but a saga that seeks new boundaries, then it has to be this little giant javelin thrower Neeraj. To think that it was to get rid of his obesity that his father, a farmer, took him to a stadium to encourage him to take to sports, one wonders how much the nation owes its gratitude to this Haryana native. Neeraj was not inclined to take to running to cut his fat but it was the Javelin throwers who drew him to them. And the rest as they say is history!

The only Indian athlete to win an Olympic gold which he achieved in Tokyo, Neeraj had made it even better by winning another medal, a silver in the next Olympics in Paris last year. No Indian athlete had done this till date. From the way he is approaching his task of continuing to improve, the braveheart could well be set for greater deeds. Particularly after his latest classic in Doha in the Diamond League where for the first time he crossed the 90 m mark. For a long had this 90 m barrier working in his mind. Added to that the frequent reminders and queries by........

© Mathrubhumi English