The athlete with the most followers on social media is neither Armand Duplantis, who broke the pole vault world record for the ninth time on Monday 5 August, nor Noah Lyles, who is aiming for a double 100-200 m in Paris. His name is Neeraj Chopra, he is Indian and he throws the javelin. With 9 million followers on Instagram – Noah Lyles has 1 million – the reigning Olympic javelin champion is the favourite in the final of his discipline on Thursday 8 August. In qualifying on Tuesday, he exceeded the threshold of 89.34 m, just sixty centimetres away from his personal best of 89.94 m.

But Chopra is not fooled by the reasons for this “virtual” popularity, as he explained WorldJuly 18th. “I am Indian, so I have many followershe analyzes. Followers are not a sign of success in sports. “Mondo“ Duplantis is on a different sporting level. In Tokyo [en 2021]I won the first gold medal in athletics [dans l’histoire olympique] of India. For this reason, many Indians follow me and are interested in javelin throwing. »

Sleeping giant of Olympic sports, India, eIn a hundred years of participation, he has collected only thirty-five medals, including ten gold. In Tokyo, Indian athletes won seven, including Chopra's title. In Paris, the contingent of the Indian delegation includes 118 members, including 29 athletes.

“An example from my results”

According to an article by Deccan Herald, Chopra alone is the second most subsidized Olympic participant, with 624,000 euros, behind the players of the eight-time Olympic field hockey champion. The Indian manufacturer of connected watches Noise has even dedicated a model called Fit Javelin.

If he wins at the Stade de France – against his rivals Julius Yego (Kenya), Julian Weber (Germany) or Anderson Peters (Granada) – he would be the first Indian athlete to retain his individual Olympic title. “If I succeed, it would be extraordinary for my countryhe says. That would show the Indians that we are capable. »

The rather discreet champion full of humility does not like big speeches: “I don’t want to be a role model through my words, but through my results.” Some are already taking inspiration from it: Avinash Sable easily qualified for the final of the 3,000m steeplechase, which is scheduled for Wednesday, August 7. Unfortunately, long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, 7^e during the 2022 World Cup.

Structuring of sport

“ Indian athletics has a bright future aheadNeeraj Chopra wants to believe this. It is sad that there were some injuries, especially among the jumpers. We will be good in the future. » Like the majority of the 700 million men in his country, the bowler started out playing cricket, the number one sport. He also practiced traditional kabaddi, a type of giant hawk with breathing techniques, the name of which means “holding the breath” in Hindi.

It was not until 2011 that he began to seriously pursue javelin throwing. “I have nothing planned.he remembers. In India, many athletes start out this way because we don't have much infrastructure, coaches or clubs. We go to a stadium and if we like a sport, we do it. » The champion scores with a ” Improvement “ in the design of the sport but the situation “has nothing to do with Europe or the United States.” Neeraj Chopra now benefits from a center for Olympic athletes, the Inspire Institute of Sport.

Chopra initially managed it on his own, thanks to a group of local pitchers. The more experienced ones help the younger ones. Everyone watches YouTube videos of champions like the Czech Jan Zelezny – current world record holder with 98.48 m – or the Finnish Tero Pitkamaki. In 2016, Gary Calvert, an Australian coach, came to India. That year, Chopra went abroad for the first time to train and compete.

Conflictual relationships

His style is his own. When European launchers choose performance, they prefer flexibility and speed. “I have good shoulders, flexible, supple and strong. It is essential in javelin throwing.”he describes.

Ironically, given the fractious relations between India and its neighbor, one of his rivals, Arshad Nadeem, is Pakistani. He finished behind Chopra at the 2021 Olympics and will be in the final. “I am not particularly focused on the Pakistani bowleremphasizes the Indian master. We meet at competitions. He is very respectful, I also speak to him with respect and that is very good. »

There is nothing comparable in “cricket diplomacy,” a sport that has been used on several occasions to calm relations between the two countries. “It's very different from cricket, where two teams compete against each other. In the javelin we compete in the final with twelve boys from different countries. “

The rivalry between Chopra and Nadeem is not the first in athletics. In the 1950s and 1960s, the “Flying Sikh” Milkha Singh faced Pakistan's Abdul Khaliq at the Commonwealth Games, but the level of that competition was much lower than that of an Olympic Games final. In 2013, an Indian film was released, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, has updated this story. “I knew her back then” says Neeraj Chopra. The launcher is likely to have his biopic soon in the very rich Indian film production.