Debunking misconceptions and negativity surrounding Neeraj Chopra

On occasions, social media platforms can be a queer place to scroll through all the posts. In an imaginary world, all those opinions seem to belong to a distant planet that is light years away from reality. To illustrate the point, take into consideration Neeraj Chopra, arguably the most decorated Indian sportsperson of all time. Just that, even Neeraj Chopra of all sportspersons, is coming under scrutiny and to some extent getting trolled. For starters, he has just won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games. So, it isn’t as if he failed to perform at his most recent event.

More importantly, we are thinking of an inspirational athlete who has virtually completed his career by winning Gold Medals and clinching first place at all the major javelin events. In that respect, let’s scroll through some of the misconceptions surrounding Neeraj’s performances:

Neeraj was ‘lucky’ to win the gold at the Tokyo Olympics

The above-mentioned assumption is based on Johannes Vetter, the pre-tournament favourite, not performing as per expectations. The critics also point to Vetter struggling with a foot problem in Tokyo. Granted that Vetter had the top billing before that mega event. It is also true that Vetter threw a mind-numbing 97.76m at the Continental Tour Gold event in Chorzow in Poland in September 2020. Vetter also has an eye-popping nine throws over 90m to his name.

However, it is Neeraj’s versatility and sheer consistency that came to the fore in Tokyo. By all accounts, the javelin Runaway was soft and bouncy. On an overall basis, those conditions weren’t ideal for 90m plus throws. The subplot to it being Vetter’s ultra-aggressive, high-speed braced front leg or block kind of sank into the ground. Eventually, he finished a lowly ninth in the final. Marcin Krukowski also complained about the runaway. Meanwhile, Neeraj, who imparts torque rotation more so with his upper torso, and generates considerable momentum forward by sliding, negated the conditions to a large extent and emerged victorious with a throw of 87.58m.

Moreover, Neeraj has succeeded across different frontiers. To encapsulate the fact, just think of his 86.69m throw in slippery conditions at the Kuortane Games in 2022. Incidentally, at one point of time, Neeraj had a whopping 26 top two consecutive finishes; a testament to his fitness and mental strength.

Neeraj doesn’t win enough Gold Medals

This is another of those theories that needs to be debunked without an iota of doubt. All that it takes is a simple Google Search to gauge that Neeraj has won the Gold Medal at the World Championships, Olympics and Commonwealth Games. He is also a double-time Gold Medallist at the Asian Games, alongside clinching the Diamond League finals and World Junior Championships. In fact, he won the gold at the WJC with a world record throw of 86.48m.

Of course, he has also won silver medals at the World Championships, Olympics, Junior Asian Championships and CWG. An athlete isn’t an AI-generated machine to take the top slot every single time. As an athlete gets older, he will also be hampered by injuries. Neeraj himself was laid low by a lower back issue not long ago. In that context, his silver medal effort at the 2026 CWG was a very good achievement.

Neeraj has also touched towering peaks in a sport where India have had little to show for at the world level.

Neeraj has only one throw over 90m

The reply to such a thought is to look at the number of medals he has won at the World level. Although a small caveat can be added here: for someone like Neeraj who threw over 86m at the junior level, logically you expect him to have a few more throws over 90m at the senior level. Who knows? On a perfect day, where everything is in sync, he might end up with a throw of around 92-93m.

Even if the Javelin maestro doesn’t achieve such a feat, it wouldn’t diminish his glittering achievements. The bottom-line is that any athlete would choose Gold Medals at major events over a slew of 90m throws.

Last but not the least, never write off a champion athlete from winning another Gold Medal at a major event.

The post Debunking misconceptions and negativity surrounding Neeraj Chopra appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.