Neeraj content with simple life of athlete

Vinayak Padmadeo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 30

Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra speaks from the heart but even then he will not confess that the countless felicitations and other social interactions after his Olympics gold medal win were becoming a hindrance to his life as an athlete. What he yearned for most was the simple life of an athlete, only worrying about training, recovery and diet.

My life here is very simple. I have my breakfast by 7:30 and then head to the centre where I train for over two hours. We eat our lunch there and then we return to our apartment to rest and recover. We head to training again by 4pm. We finish training and return after dinner. After that, it is a normal day as I call up family or friends and rest. I will be honest, I have to put a lot of effort in training but I am very happy to get back to training — Neeraj Chopra

The felicitations took months away from his training. His wish to take part in the Diamond League went unfulfilled as his team, which includes coach Charles Bartonietz, decided to forego the season as there was no point going into competitions undercooked.

Now in training at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Centre in San Diego, USA, Chopra is at peace.

“My life here is very simple,” Chopra said during a media interaction. “I have my breakfast by 7:30 and then head to the centre where I train for over two hours. We eat our lunch there and then we return to our apartment to rest and recover,” added India’s first gold medallist in athletics.

“We head to training again by 4pm. We finish training and return after dinner. After that, it is a normal day as I call up family or friends and rest. I will be honest, I have to put a lot of effort in training but I am very happy to get back to training,” he added.

Chopra said it was great to get away from the distractions back in India. “The marriage season is on,” Chopra said with a sheepish grin.

“You get a lot of invites from family and friends, besides Patiala is really cold these days. Weather here (San Diego) is perfect. My only focus here is on training, rest and diet. I am back to spending the normal life of an athlete, where you only focus on sports and nothing else,” he added.

‘Gained a lot of weight’

Chopra said that he gained a lot of weight after winning the javelin gold at the Tokyo Olympics. “I love Indian food so I ate everything after Tokyo. I did not think about my diet as an athlete and so I gained around 12 to 13 kilograms,” he said.

“In the last 20 days, I have reduced a little over five kilograms, which is closer to my off-season weight. It was a struggle to get back to training, as I had to force myself to complete the workouts. It was difficult. I had body ache and I had to put in a lot of effort,” he added.

‘Coach will decide competition schedule’

Chopra added that though he was looking forward to 2022, when among other things he will look to retain his Commonwealth Games and Asian Games gold medals, his coach will decide his competition schedule. There is only a month’s gap between the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the Asian Games in Hangzhou, besides there is an added twist with the spike in Covid cases worldwide.

“I have said this previously as well that my coach will decide where I compete,” he said. “I want to compete but there is a lot that needs to be thought about. Cases are rising as well but as an athlete all we can do is train. Then there will be tougher restrictions in some countries as well. Ultimately, my training and competition schedule will be decided by the coach,” he added.