Neeraj Chopra’s days in Tokyo: No social media, 6 am dope tests, German coach’s ‘mazaa karna’ speech and exchange with Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem

Tokyo: On Saturday, Neeraj Chopra became India’s second individual gold medallist ever at an Olympics. His throw of 87.58m was not his personal best, as he said he was attempting to throw at the Tokyo Olympics, but it was enough. Enough for him to win the country a rare individual gold medal at the Games. Most of the work that goes into a medal at the Olympics, happens in the four years leading up to the Games. But the work done during the home stretch, the days leading up to the Olympics, is equally important. With insights from Neeraj and German biomechanical expert Dr Klaus Bartonietz, who works with the thrower, we try to piece together his days in Tokyo: No speech required Sports movies have us believe that athletes require rousing speeches from coaches to provide some last-minute motivation for them to perform. Dr Bartonietz, a German biomechanical expert who has been living with Chopra for a year now, instead chose a select few words: “Mazaa karo. Enjoy!” Enjoy, Neeraj did, and how!

Kind words from across the border When Neeraj made it to his first Olympic final on Saturday, one of the other finalists was Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem. Arshad and Neeraj’s camaraderie had become a talking point at the Asian Games in 2018. The Pakistani thrower was seen spending a lot of time with India’s other javelin thrower, Shivpal Singh, on Wednesday during qualification. But on Saturday, he was one of the first to congratulate Neeraj when he won gold in the final. While very few words were exchanged after the event, the duo had been sitting next to each other in the bus when travelling to the stadium pre-event. “He congratulated me when we sat together in the bus. He was telling me about that photo from the Asian Games (which went viral) and he said that people in Pakistan equate us to Abdul Khaliq and Milkha Singh,” revealed Neeraj. Neeraj’s mindset going into final For a man standing on the cusp of history, Neeraj’s aim when Saturday began was to throw over his personal best, 88.07m, which is also the Indian national record. This, despite the fact that in his path were men of the calibre of Johannes Vetter, who has been hurling the 800gm javelin over 90 metres like he was throwing a toothpick. “I thought I’d get my personal best today. In the second throw, I thought I got my PB but I don’t know what happened there. No worries. I have this (gold medal) with me. That’s more important,” he told journalists after the final. “The Olympic record is 90.57m (thrown by Andreas Thorkildsen at Beijing 2008) and it did cross my mind to target it. I think I tried to overdo it because of that. My last throw was a little more stable but the ones in between were not great. The Olympic gold was a priority. I can break the national record later also by working hard,” he said. No distractions Neeraj was particularly fond of his long, shoulder-length locks. But just before he flew from Sweden to Tokyo, he had them chopped off. “I felt it was too long and cut them. I liked my long hair but I felt my hair will grow back. The Olympics will come again only three years later. It kept falling on my eyes and the weather was so bad as well. I was troubled by this hair also today. Longer hair means more sweat and keeps falling on my face. I had to focus more on my hair and how to manage them. Kept thinking I can grow my hair later and that my game should not be affected by my hair,” he had told journalists on Wednesday after his qualification for the final. After he landed in Tokyo, Neeraj went on a social media hiatus to focus on winning a medal. “I wasn’t on social media very much because I wanted to stay focussed on my event,” he told journalists in Tokyo after winning gold. While he would sometimes use his phone to listen to music or watch videos, it was usually switched off. “I didn’t want to get distracted by conversations online. I think that it is important to give your 100 percent (at an event like this). It’s only a matter of 10-15 days anyway. For that duration, if you stay off social media for a while, I don’t think it’s a big deal. The focus needs to be on the game.” Despite these being his first Olympics, Neeraj also managed to steer clear of the need to seek out superstars in the Athletes Village and get clicked with them, or get their autographs. The only distraction of sorts Chopra experienced in the days leading up to Saturday’s final was frequent early-morning dope testing. Neeraj says he was dope tested thrice after coming to Tokyo (not to mention the fourth test after winning a medal on Saturday). Since Neeraj arrived from Sweden, which is seven hours behind Tokyo, the time difference made it difficult for him to sleep early. And when did come, it would be interrupted by dope testers. “I would sleep a little late, so I was hoping to sleep for a little later in the mornings. But the doping control officers would show up at 5.45 am or 6 am for the past two days and would whisk me away. Par maine haath jod ke request ki please 7 tareek ko itni jaldi mat aana. (I requested them with folded hands to not turn up so early on the 7th, which was the day of the finals.) Please come after 9 or 10 am. I won’t have a problem with that,” he told journalists. Heat, and some light humour Since Neeraj had travelled to Toyko straight from Sweden, he started to feel the effects of the heat of Japan’s capital city in his first few days. Besides this, on the day of qualification, he had to wake up at 5 am, while his body was still adjusting to the seven-hour time lag with Sweden. After waking up early, he came to the Olympic stadium nearly two-and-a-half hours ahead of his event. After getting to the Olympic Stadium, he put his shoulder through three or four warm-up throws in the practice ground on the fringes of the main stadium. The heat at the venue made pre-event favourite Johannes Vetter walk up to him and joke that as an Indian he would be used to these conditions and it would make him one of the contenders. “I said no I am also coming from Europe so even I am getting troubled by the heat. We had a few light and funny conversations,” he said after qualification. As it turns out, Vetter might have had a point.