Neeraj Chopra‘s sensational on-field performance at the Tokyo Olympics has translated seamlessly into a digital phenomenon, meanwhile, an old video of the Olympic gold medalist is going viral on social media.
In the clip, Neeraj was asked about the inspiration behind his long hairstyle and his reply left everyone amused.
Watch the Video here:
Sporting sensation in the Country
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who won the 1st Olympic gold medal in athletics for India is now a sporting sensation in the country, making the 23-year-old athlete hugely popular on social media.
Notably, Chopra is also the only 2nd Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics event after Abhinav Bindra.
Neeraj first snatched the limelight in 2015 as he became the junior world champion with a world record throw of 86.84m in Poland. He exceeded the previous best throw of 84.69m set by Latvia’s Zigismunds Sirmais and became the 1st Indian track and field athlete to set a world record.
The interview
When asked whether his long hair was inspired by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan or Indian cricketer Ishant Sharma, Chopra replied with, “Neither.”
“Koi nhi hai ji! Main khud hi apne baal lambe rakhta hun (No inspiration. I like keeping my hair long),” he said.
However, this was the same interview, where Neeraj had asked the anchor to ask him questions in Hindi so that he could understand them properly which got viral a few days back.
Also, the athlete was asked how javelin happened to him, to which he answered in Hindi, “God decided it for me. I used to play various sports in my village (Khandra). But once I went to the ground and saw seniors throwing the javelin in the air, I joined them. I didn’t even know what javelin was. It started just like that and now I’m here in front of you.”
