Neeraj Chopra is a human after all.
That’s the message Athletics Federation of India (AFI) selection committee chairman Adille Sumariwalla wants to convey once and for all, especially to all those expressing
concerns over the two-time Olympic medallist’s’ form and fitness.
Chopra recently competed at the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow and with a season-best effort of 86.48m, clinched the silver medal in men’s javelin throw event.
At the same event in 2018, he had won a gold medal, but he missed the subsequent Games in Birmingham due to injury.
For Sumariwalla, Chopra’s remarkable run at the highest level of the sport since setting the junior world record of 86.48m in 2016 remains the defining measure of his career.
“After the injury, for him to come back to this stage and win a silver medal, it’s simply fantastic, for Indian athletics. We are confident that he will keep on improving (in the coming days),” Sumariwalla, also a former president of the AFI, told news agency PTI.
“It is not that he would win gold all the time, it doesn’t happen like that. Silver medals also happen. He is also a human being, and we should leave at that. We should celebrate his silver medals also,” he added.
The AFI observes August 7 as National Javelin Day in honour of Chopra’s historic Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Chopra’s injury troubles began two weeks before the World Championships in September last year, when he suffered a lower back injury. He returned to competition at the Doha Diamond League in June, finishing fourth in his comeback event.
His schedule now includes the Lausanne Diamond League on August 21, followed by the Diamond League Finals in Brussels on September 4 and 5, where he is expected to qualify, before shifting focus to the Asian Games in September-October.
Questions surrounding Chopra’s ability to regain peak form have persisted since his return, but Sumariwalla insisted that the 28-year-old from Haryana has earned the benefit of the doubt through years of sustained success.
“Who has given you two Olympic medals, a gold and a silver? Who has given you world championships gold, junior world record and a gold medal? Who has given you Asian Games gold and Commonwealth Games gold and silver, and Asian Championships gold? Whatever medal he has won, we should take it as a bonus,” he said.
“So, when he wins a silver medal also, we must leave it at that. We must not write him off. Whatever he has to do, he will do it and he knows it. He is after all the greatest athlete India has produced,” he added.
With PTI Inputs
