Neeraj Chopra signs the shirt sleeve of the Hungarian lady.© X (formerly Twitter)
Neeraj Chopra is once again the toast of the nation. The 25-year-old javelin thrower, who has taken Indian athletics to an astonishing height with his achievements, made a first for India on Sunday evening when he won the World Championship gold medal in Budapest, Hungary. Chopra was already an Olympic champion, Asian Games gold medalist and Commonwealth Game winner. He won the last missing major title of his career in style. With a throw of 88.17 metres, Chopra ensured India returned from the major event with a gold medal.
After the event ended, Chopra had an interesting encounter, which shows his maturity off the field as well. A Hungarian lady asked for his autograph after the gold medal win. Chopra realized that the lady was asking for an autograph on an Indian flag. He politely refused to sign on the Indian flag and instead signed on the sleeve of the lady’s shirt. Still, the lady was happy.
Journalist Jonathan Selvaraj, whose biography on X (formerly known as Twitter) reads ‘Sports & stories for Sportstar’, captured the moment in Budapest and his post has gone viral.
A very sweet Hungarian lady (who by the way spoke excellent Hindi) wanted an autograph from Neeraj Chopra. Neeraj said sure but then realized she meant on the flag. “Waha nahi sign kar sakta,” Neeraj tells her. Finally he signed the sleeve of her shirt. Still, she was quite happy. pic.twitter.com/VhZ34J8qH5
— jonathan selvaraj (@jon_selvaraj) August 28, 2023
Neeraj has been something of a pioneer. After making it big in the javelin throw, the athletics discipline showed great potential. As a result, two other athletes Kishore Jena and DP Manu also finished in the top-6 in Sunday’s final.
Gagan Narang, 2012 Olympics bronze medalist in shooting, said the current crop of Indian athletes are fearless and have undergone a paradigm shift when it comes to winning mentality.
“They are fearless. What sets them apart from us is that they are there to win and not just compete. In our day we went there to compete or to get to the finals. These kids just want go out and win. They have fire in their bellies,” Gagan Narang told NDTV.
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