Neeraj Chopra is the new poster boy of Indian sports after making history at the Tokyo Olympics. He is the first Indian to win an Olympic gold in athletics following his stupendous performance in Tokyo. However, the 23-year-old star javelin thrower said he wants to remain focused on his game and doesn't want the success to go to his head. Neeraj Chopra, during an exclusive chat with NDTV, said that during the Tokyo Olympics his sole focus was on doing well and he knew good things would follow.
"My focus was on my game and if you manage to do well, sponsors and money follows. I want to invest them in the right direction and help those who are in need. The biggest thing for me is to keep my focus on my game and I can't let success go to my head," Neeraj Chopra said.
"I feel lucky that I managed to end India's wait for an Olympic medal in athletics. Not just in athletics, all the sports in which we participated, we did well this time at the Tokyo Olympics."
In the men's javelin Olympic final in Tokyo, Neeraj laid down an early maker by registering a distance of 87.03m in his very first attempt.
He then followed it up by bettering his own mark in his second attempt -- a throw of 87.58m.
With hot favourite, Johannes Vetter having a nightmare in Tokyo and unable to even qualify for the final eight, the gold seemed within the Neeraj's grasp.
Despite two foul throws in his fourth and fifth attempts, the Indian was well on his way to creating history. The rest of the field couldn't even get close to Neeraj's mark.
Such was his dominance in the final that two of his throws were good enough to win the gold.