Homecoming hero Neeraj Chopra takes the accolade and applause at Federation Cup

There was a brief roar soon after the release but no ‘both arms raised with the fingers pointing towards the sky as he turns his back while the javelin is yet to land’ gesture followed. It was never really about his performance but more about celebrating the presence of a star who had ‘completed’ athletics by adding the Olympic, Diamond League and World Championship titles to his collection since his last domestic meet in 2021.

Yet, an unfazed Neeraj Chopra clinched the gold medal on the final day of the 27th Federation Cup at the Kalinga Stadium.

From the moment Chopra arrived with his entourage at the practice ground on a humid evening at 5pm, two hours before his event, he was the centre of attention. Wearing a black-and-pink t-shirt and black track pants with a cap (black again) covering a portion of his shoulder-lengthed hair, the 26-year-old had a light training session with coach Dr. Klaus Bartonietz watching.

He began with a few stretching exercises, monitored by physiotherapist Ishaan Marwaha, before moving on to short sprints. However, unlike his usual sessions, clips of which are shared on his social media handles, every moment here was being captured by scores of photographers from the media. An athlete or their coach, or an official would come to greet and Neeraj obliged every time. Triple jumpers Abdulla Aboobacker and Praveen Chithravel, who had their final an hour before Chopra’s, received warm embraces from the Olympic champion. The volunteers got their selfies too.

Neeraj Chopra interacts with fellow athletes ahead of the men’s javelin throw event.
| Photo Credit:
PTI

The two thousand-odd spectators got their first glimpse of Chopra at half-past-six as the 12 javelin throw finalists walked along the periphery of the track adjacent to the triple jump sandpit to reach the runway. The applause and cheers began when many in the stands mistook his ‘practice throw’ for his competition opener. The support only got louder from there on. Bhubaneswar and its people had to wait for more than half-a-decade to watch Chopra competing in front of their eyes again. Chopra last hurled the spear in the Odisha capital during the Asian Athletics Championships in 2017 where the then junior world champion had clinched gold with the last throw of competition.

On Wednesday, however, the athlete from Haryana settled the affair well before the final throw. He had qualified for the Paris Olympics during his historic gold medal-winning performance at last year’s World Championships in Budapest. He opened this season with an impressive 88.36m, less than a week ago, at the Doha Diamond League. He participated at the Federation Cup only because next month’s National Inter-State Championships are too close to the Olympics and in the middle of a list of bigger events abroad.

After Karnataka’s Manu DP opened the competition with 82.06m, it was time for Chopra’s first throw. He adjusted his shoes, had a last-minute stretch, pulled up the right-shoulder sleeve, and off he went on the runway before releasing the javelin – 82m.

Chopra looked towards the spectators and asked for more applause for his second throw. Understanding the task at hand, the crowd replied with chants of “Neeraj! Neeraj!” and loud whistles. Before getting into position, he acknowledged them with a bow. However, unsatisfied with his attempt, he intentionally committed a foul. The same routine followed leading up to the third which finished with an 81.29m throw. Meanwhile, Kishore Jena, the other Indian javelin thrower with a spot confirmed for the Summer Games, was having a forgetful night as he struggled with his technique.

Before the fourth round began, Chopra went for a brief chat with coach Bartonietz who had been watching the action from behind a fence.

As the action resumed with the bottom-four eliminated and the order reset, Chopra went to throw just before Manu. With the jersey changed, the lumbar belt opened and tightened again, the extra powder on the hand holding the spear shaken off, he took off for what turned out to be his best and last throw of the night – 82.27m.

(From left) Manu D.P., Neeraj Chopra, and Uttam Balasaheb Patil during the medal ceremony of the Javelin Throw final event at the 27th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition 2024.
| Photo Credit:
BISWARANJAN ROUT/The Hindu

Manu, looking to join Chopra and Jena by achieving the Olympic qualifying standard of 85.50m, could only produce an effort of 81.47m in the fourth round and a foul in the fifth. Chopra decided to skip his penultimate attempt and when Manu fouled in the last round, he understandably gave a pass to that one as well.

Chopra joined the rest of the finalists for a group photo before he made it to the mixed zone where he asked the scribes to pay attention to the 400m men’s final before fielding their questions. “When I realised my body was not up for it, I decided to skip the last two attempts,” he said before sportingly adding, “ Mujhe lag raha tha Manu phenk dega aaj toh par uss se lag nahin payi kyunki uski javelin jaldi land ho rahi thi (I expected Manu to win but he could not execute as his javelin was landing early).”

For someone who is one of India’s only two individual Olympic gold medallists, there wasn’t much promotion regarding his participation at the event and eventually, more than half of the 15,000-capacity stadium was vacant. Still, Chopra ended the night with, “Thank you for supporting the athletes” after the medal ceremony.

What could have been a warm homecoming for all he has achieved so far and a big send-off ceremony for Paris at the same time did not materialise into either of the two.