‘Never compared myself to Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni’ - Neeraj Chopra’s honest opinion on his popularity

Neeraj Chopra is the number one ranked javelin thrower in the world and the defending Olympic champion as well.

Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra spoke about his popularity in Indian and world media and said that he doesn’t compare himself to Indian cricketers Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni when it comes to fame and status. Chopra will spearhead India’s hopes of winning a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal in javelin at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and became only the second Indian after Abhinav Bindra to win an individual gold medal in the Olympics. Notably, Neeraj is the only Indian to win gold medal in athletics events at Olympics.

However, despite his increase in fame and popularity, Chopra has remained grounded. The javelin star has also stated that he has never compared with Indian cricketers Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni when it comes to popularity.

“If you respect your sport and feel satisfied with it, then nothing else should matter. At the Doha Diamond League, I was asked how popular I was in India. I never tried to compare myself with the likes of Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni because I’m very well aware of the reality of what I am in India,” Chopra told Sportstar.

Neeraj agreed that cricket remains India’s most popular sport, but he thinks Javelin can reach the same heights in the country, however not at the expense of any other sport; rather, he wishes that all sports continue to flourish.

“Yes, obviously, after the Olympics, people recognize me a lot more, but I know there is a stark difference in my popularity compared to that of a cricketer. Cricket is played in every single alley in the country. It’s not like people practice javelin throw in the same way,” he added.

The Indian itinerary in Paris Olympics begins on 25 July, a day before the opening ceremony. A total of 117 Indian athletes will participate in the event.

Neeraj Chopra wants more javelin-based events in India to make sport popular

Neeraj Chopra stated that he was willing to accept responsibility for himself and perform in such a way that more and more people began watching Javelin and closely following the sport.  

Chopra also called for more world-class javelin events like the Diamond League to be held in India for youngsters to become interested in the sport and make it popular.

“I don’t want any shortcuts to making my sport popular. I want my sport to become popular with my hard work and effort. If there are more javelin-based competitions in India, like the Diamond League, people will become more interested in watching and following the sport. With talented javelin athletes in India, there should be national-level leagues to compete. This would help to boost the sport in India,” Neeraj added further.

Neeraj Chopra will have stiff competition in the javelin event with Max Dehning, Anderson Peters, Jakub Vadlejch, and Arshad Nadeem.

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