Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra after being honoured with a commemorative plaque at Jungfraujoch, often called the âTop of Europeâ.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Itâs all the time difficult to write down about an individual who is legendary as a result of each facet of his life would have been mentioned threadbare. But The Neeraj Chopra Story by veteran sports activities journalist and former athlete Norris Pritam attracts you in with its trustworthy and straight-from-the-heart method.
Neeraj Chopra on the menâs javelin throw remaining athletics occasion throughout the 2022 Asian Games at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre, in Hangzhou, China.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images
Embellished with a befitting foreword by six-time world champion and London Olympics bronze medallist boxer M.C. Mary Kom, the e-book, with easy prose and straightforward tempo, tracks the long-lasting javelin throwerâs life of a boy from the Haryana hinterland to a history-making world star.
Norris might have missed overlaying the COVID-marred Tokyo Olympics in 2021, however he has made up for his absence within the Japanese capital by making some arduous work to serve readers a Neeraj Chopra story as contemporary as he might. His narrative contains everybody who performed an vital position in making Chopra what he’s as we speak â an Olympic and world champion.
Tribute to different greats
Norris revisits Indian athleticsâ previous to place Chopraâs achievements into perspective. Right from Milkha Singh, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, Sriram Singh to P.T. Usha and Anju Bobby George, the writer has mentioned a number of nice athletes to deliver us some heartbreaking cases of Indian athletes lacking an Olympic medal narrowly.
Some gripping actual life examples, which had been unique to the writer as a result of of his days as an athlete, and an elaborate description concerning the lack of services and poor circumstances for yesteryear athletes make one perceive that it was not the dearth of expertise however different elements which dented Indian athletesâ medal hopes on the largest stage.
Switching his storytelling from being an observer to being a personality, Norris tells Chopraâs story with spontaneity and fervour. His description of his first assembly with Chopra, which got here as a shock to him, is attention-grabbing.
Neeraj Chopra reacts after securing the gold medal on the nineteenth Asian Games, in Hangzhou, China.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
More about âNirjuâ
Interactions with Chopraâs members of the family, mates, mentors, coaches and colleagues give us an thought about âNirjuâ the individual and Chopra the devoted sportsperson, who grew to become the primary Indian to win an athletics gold medal within the Olympics.
Klaus Wolfermann
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu picture archives
Also, views of his rivals and a few legends, together with 1972 Munich Olympics champion Klaus Wolfermann, add worth to the biography. A chapter on South Asian javelin throwers, particularly the small print about Chopraâs pleasant rival Pakistanâs Arshad Nadeem, suits nicely. It clears doubts concerning the undesirable controversy throughout the Tokyo Olympics associated to make use of of javelins.
Projecting Chopra because the chief of a javelin revolution in India â with a number of gifted throwers together with Kishore Jena, D.P. Manu, Rohit Yadav and Shivpal Singh round â is kind of apt.
The try to take a look at the longer term of Indian athletics following the impetus given to it by Chopra can be welcome. Overall, itâs a very good and well timed effort by Norris and will win the hearts of sports activities lovers in an Olympic yr.
The Neeraj Chopra Story; Norris Pritam, Bloomsbury, â¹399.
sarangi.y@thehindu.co.in
