Tokyo 2020: Strong family support key to Neeraj Chopra’s success in maiden Olympics

Chopra
scripted
history
on
Saturday
(August
7)
by
winning
India’s
maiden
athletics
medal
in
the
history
of
the
Olympics.
In
doing
so,
he
also
became
only
the
second
Indian
to
bag
an
individual
gold
in
the
Games.

Chopra’s
father
Satish
Chopra,
who
has
a
farming
background,
credited
family
support
behind
his
son’s
achievement.

“When
one’s
child
achieves
success
and
brings
glory
to
the
nation,
there
are
no
words
to
express
happiness
of
parents
and
entire
family.
We
live
in
a
joint
family
and
we
are
four
brothers.
Neeraj
(Chopra)
has
been
lucky
in
the
sense
that
he
got
full
support
from
entire
family,
who
constantly
encouraged
and
motivated
him
to
pursue
his
passion,”
he
told
the
media
here.

The
athlete’s
mother
Saroj
added:
“Today,
he
has
lived
up
to
everyone’s
expectations
and
made
India
proud,”
she
said.

Chopra’s
uncle
Bhim
Chopra,
who
played
a
key
role
in
shaping
his
career,
agreed
with
his
brother.

“God
has
answered
our
prayers.

“It
is
not
only
a
player’s
hard
work
and
strong
determination
that
counts,
strong
family
support,
constant
encouragement
and
motivation
and
inculcating
good
values
is
important.
Neeraj
have
all
these
which
helped
him
pursue
his
aim,”
Bhim
Chopra
said.

Chopra’s
native
Khandra
village,
near
Panipat
burst
into
celebratory
mood
after
their
very
own
child
shone
bright
at
sport’s
biggest
stage
on
Saturday
(August
7)
evening.

Even
elderly
women
in
the
village
and
family
have
been
dancing
and
singing
after
he
had
won
a
gold
and
heaped
praise
on
the
son-of-the-soil
for
making
India
proud.

People
from
far
and
wide
have
been
reaching
the
family’s
house
to
congratulate
them.

Satish
said
his
son
developed
interest
in
javelin
from
some
of
his
associates
in
Panipat’s
Shivaji
stadium.

“Later,
he
developed
interest
in
the
sport
and
he
started
doing
well.
He
always
focused
only
on
javelin
and
remained
firm
on
pursuing
the
sport,”
he
said.

Satish
said
had
he
been
alive,
the
legendary
Milkha
Singh
would
have
been
proud
of
his
son.

“We
wish
Milkha
ji
was
alive
and
amongst
us
today,
he
would
have
been
so
happy
and
proud,”
he
said.

Uncle
Bhim
added
for
the
last
10
years
Chopra
had
followed
a
strict
diet
but
once
he
returns
home
the
family
will
now
let
him
relish
his
favourite
dishes.

On
Saturday,
Chopra’s
family
had
put
up
a
giant
screen
outside
their
home
to
enable
all
those
from
the
neighbourhood,
including
children
and
a
battery
of
mediapersons,
who
had
gathered
there,
to
watch
the
live
action
of
his
event
from
Tokyo.

Satish
said
he
was
confident
that
his
son
would
win
a
medal,
but
was
not
sure
about
the
colour
of
the
medal.

Chopra
had
shattered
several
glass
ceilings
to
become
the
country’s
first
gold-medallist
in
13
years,
his
stupendous
show
making
it
the
best
ever
Games
for
a
nation
starved
for
success
at
the
grandest
sporting
spectacle.

At
23,
he
joined
Abhinav
Bindra
in
the
select
gold
club
but
beat
him
on
age
as
the
latter
was
25
when
he
claimed
the
top
prize
in
the
2008
Beijing
Games.