A day after Prakash Padukone slams Indian athletes, Neeraj Chopra shows the way

Neeraj Chopra did exactly what was hoped of him. He qualified for the men’s javelin throw final at the Paris Olympics 2024 with just one throw of 89.34m.

Out of the 12 athletes who qualified for the final, only Neeraj crossed the 89m mark. Anderson Peters of Grenada followed with 88.63m, and Germany’s Julian Weber recorded 87.76m.

Qualification is not final, but Neeraj’s dominant and reassuring performance, also with just one throw, once again highlighted that he remains a few levels above any Indian athletes of all time.

This wasn’t the first time Neeraj had done something like this, stamping his mark on a competition with his very first throw (or at times with just his second or third attempt). He won India’s first Olympic gold in athletics three years back with just his second throw of 87.58m.

The swift qualification, however, comes at a very interesting time in Indian sports where the opinions are highly divided after badminton legend Prakash Padukone decided to go the whole hog over athletes failing to win medals at the Olympics after getting into the winning positions.

After his trainee Lakshya Sen lost the bronze medal match despite winning the first game , Padukone lost his cool.

“After Milkha Singh in 64’ and PT Usha in the 80s, we have so many fourth place finishes. I think that it’s high time that the players also take responsibility,” Padukone told the Indian media in Paris.

“At least for the results in this Olympics and the previous one, you cannot hold the federations and government responsible for the results. They have all done whatever they can. Ultimately the responsibility is on the players to go an deliver when it matters the most,” Padukone stated.

“The players need to introspect, and not just keep asking for more from the federations. They need to ask themselves whether they are working hard enough, because all of these players have their own physios and all the facilities. I don’t think any other country, including the US, has so many facilities.”

Was Padukone wrong to say what he said?

It’s no surprise that Padukone, who became world No 1 in badminton and won the prestigious All England tournament in 1980 despite the lack of support for the sport at the time, did not hesitate in speaking without mincing words.

Read | Why Prakash Padukone lashed out at athletes? What has been the response?

You can question the timing or his quotes, but it’s hard to say there’s no truth in what he was saying.

Sen didn’t just lose the bronze medal match; even in the semi-final against the eventual gold medal winner Viktor Axelsen,  the 22-year-old was 20-17 up in the first game and 7-0 in the second before losing both.

After surviving miraculously, Axelsen was curt in his assessment of Sen’s defeat.

“(At 20-17) I could definitely feel he was tense,” Axelsen said. “It was a big thing for him, of course, no Indian men’s singles player has done what he’s doing at the moment, so he maybe started to think about what he was doing, and the pressure was there."

Badminton men’s doubles pair Satwaiksairaj Ranki Reddy and Chirag Shetty, who were one of the biggest medal hopes for the country, also lost in their quarter-finals after winning the first game.

Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat lost in the mixed team archery bronze medal match.

There have been two fourth-place finishes in shooting as well and while the margins are too small in this sport, some countries and athletes are still able to churn out results consistently.

Olympics: India’s fourth-place finishes at the Summer Games

Now you can understand what Padukone meant. There wasn’t malice in his comments; rather, he aimed to highlight the stumbling blocks.

However, public rebukes and media criticism are likely to do less to motivate athletes and more to add fuel to the fire against them.

No wonder India’s first individual gold medallist Abhinav Bindra was quick to douse the fire.

“Competing at an Olympics is an extraordinary challenge. It is a testament to the dedication and sacrifice of every athlete. I am incredibly proud of the fight by athletes who have finished fourth at the Paris Olympics. It is a difficult time for them but to come so close to a medal is a monumental achievement. It is important to recognise the hard work of not just the athletes but their coaches, support staff and families. We must always and always stand by our athletes,” Bindra told RevSportz Global.

In this context, it’s refreshing to see Neeraj not being bothered by the weight of expectations. It’s a quality that is extremely rare in the Indian sporting world and mind you even the super popular Indian men’s cricket team is not untouched. It took them 13 years to win a second World Cup after their 2011 triumph in a sport where there are always only a few contenders.

Neeraj shared a few secrets after taking just one throw to reach the final in Paris.

“My biggest motivation is that I always go out to do my best because I know I have not reached my peak,” Chopra said when asked about his motivation. “I am not yet as good as I would like to be technically or in distance, so I want to improve and throw further.

“And I want to set an example for other Indian athletes so that we can compete here with the best countries in athletics.”

Many might say that Neeraj is gifted, but as the only Indian athlete to win both Olympic and World Championship gold said, the secret lies in his approach and mindset.

Don’t be satisfied. Stay hungry.