Opinion Express View: Neeraj Chopra, soaring high

Neeraj Chopra couldn’t recreate his gold-medal winning feat of Tokyo in Paris. A silver it turned out to be, despite his season-best hurl. Silver might not glow as brightly as gold, but by bagging medals in successive Olympics, Chopra showed why he can lay claim to being arguably the greatest track and field athlete the country has produced. Only two others, among a billion people, could manage medals in consecutive Games — wrestler Sushil Kumar and PV Sindhu. That the silver was greeted with  an underwhelming response — as was the bronze of the hockey team, which after several false dawns is showing genuine signs of a re-emergence — points to the weight of expectations on his shoulders, comparable to Sachin Tendulkar in the ’90s. Like the virtuoso batsman, Chopra made a nation hold its breath, its heartbeat raised and its hopes soaring, when he ambled onto the track.

Even Chopra’s worst days are better than the great days of several other sportspersons. Two months before the Paris Olympics, he pulled out of an important event because of adductor muscle stiffness. A groin injury, the unkindest cut of all for throwers, that he sustained during the World Championships two years ago, kept recurring. The pain came back after the fourth throw in Paris, and he couldn’t go full pelt in his last two attempts. To manage a medal while playing through pain reflects Chopra’s tenacity. His best is yet to be.

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Chopra is only 26, on the threshold of his peak years. He has a clear target and a tough competitor to beat — his infield adversary from the village of Mian Chunnun in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Arshad Nadeem scaled an Olympic record of 92.97. Chopra would say that his immediate aspiration is to breach the 90m mark, his personal best being 89.94. Everything is on his side to achieve it — age, drive, talent, and expertise. Nadeem and bronze medallist Anderson Peters from Granada will offer him stiff competition, until at least the next Olympics. At a time when rivalry between the two nations in other sports has dissipated — cricketers duel only in continental tournaments, and the disparity is huge in hockey and racquet sports — a fascinating competition is brewing between Nadeem and Chopra, who call each other bhai jaan. Like Imran Khan and Kapil Dev,  Sachin Tendulkar and Wasim Akram in cricket, and Sohail Abbas and Dhanraj Pillay in hockey, Nadeem and Chopra can be the greatest track and field athletes of their countries.