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Neeraj Chopra’s family celebrates his silver medal in Panipat village
It was a great Sunday for the family members and relatives of Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra at Khandra village in Haryana’s Panipat district as he bagged the silver medal
It was a great Sunday for the family members and relatives of Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra as he bagged the silver medal in the men’s javelin throw at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, US.
The Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj is the first Indian to win a silver medal at the World Athletics Championships and only the second medallist from the country after Anju Bobby George’s win in 2003.
There were celebrations at Khandra village in Haryana’s Panipat district, where Neeraj lives with a joint family of 19 members. All the villagers remained glued to their television sets on Sunday when the 24-year-old javelin thrower gave his best performance of 88.13m to finish second.
Soon after his victory, people gathered at his residence and celebrated the win. His Family members distributed “laddoos” to the guests. The women in the family, who were largely indoors, broke into dance.
Neeraj’s father Satish Kumar, who is a farmer, congratulated his son for his performance, saying “We are happy on his performance and he will be given a warm welcome when he returns to the village”
“We were confident of the medal-winning performance from him as he has scripted history again,” he said. Neeraj’s father added that he is expecting his son to win medals in the next two Olympics.
He said the government was providing all support to the sportspersons and they are getting a boost from such appreciation.
“Not only me but the entire country is celebrating my son’s achievement. A medal is a medal whether it is gold or silver. Again, I will prepare his favourite dish, choorma, on his return,” said his mother, Saroj Bala, who was dancing along with other women who had gathered at her house.
Neeraj’s uncle Bhim Chopra said he was confident that he would win his first medal in his first Olympics. Neeraj created history in 2016 by becoming the first Indian athlete to bag the title of world champion by clinching gold at the U-20 World Championships in Poland.
He won gold at the 2016 South Asian Games with a throw of 82.23m and won another gold in the Asian Athletic Championships in 2017 with a throw of 85.23m.
In the 2018 Commonwealth Games, he won a gold medal with his best effort of 86.47m. Again, in 2018, he broke the national record at the Doha Diamond League with a throw of 87.43m.
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar congratulated “golden boy” Neeraj for creating history. He said that Neeraj is the pride of the country. He has become the first male player from India to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships. Khattar said that Neeraj has once again brought laurels to the country and Haryana.
