Tokyo has motivated me to do even better, says Olympics Gold Medallist Neeraj Chopra

India's first winner of a track and field gold medal in his debut Olympic Games Neeraj Chopra earned a Nomination for the prestigious 2022 Laureus World Sports Awards in the World Breakthrough of the Year category as a result. He told the website of the global sporting organisation: "The gold medal has motivated me in life to do even better. Performing well and ending up on the podium will be my target in the World Championship which is going to take place in July. Besides that, there are other big tournaments lined up this year such as Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Diamond League Final. All of these are really major tournaments."

"While training, it always comes to mind that I have to win medals in all these major tournaments. I have won a gold medal in Commonwealth and Asian Games and I would like to repeat my performance there. I represented India in the World Championship held in London. I couldn't get into the finals there, but I'll try my best to finish the tournament on the podium this year, " added the Tokyo Olympics Gold medallist.

Chopra has also set his sights on achieving a new personal best in 2022. At the moment it stands at 88.03 metres, and he said: "When it comes to achieving a specific distance, we have been trying to reach the 90 metres mark for a very long time now. I think I can really do it sometime soon in the near future. There's no pressure on me to get past 90 metres, but I will work on my technique along with my strength and speed and would like to achieve it this year. I always think whatever I've done and achieved so far is not 'the best. I think that I can really do better in future. It feels good that the whole nation believes in me and have really high hopes for me."

Next month Neeraj Chopra will discover if he has become only the second Indian to win a Laureus Award following the great cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar, a Laureus Academy Member and winner of the Laureus Sporting Moment Award in 2020, congratulated Chopra on his Nomination when it was announced. He said: "My heartiest congratulations to you for your continued success representing India on the world stage. A Laureus Nomination is another great achievement - with many more to come."

Sebastian Coe, President of World Athletics, said: "I have done my level best to be entirely neutral when I'm watching competitions, but my impartiality in Tokyo was really tested to its limit because my grandfather was Indian, my mother was born in Delhi and brought up in India, so I have obviously very strong emotional ties to that country. Chopra's win that night had me, Adille, the president of India Track and Field and one of my executive board colleagues from India, Sunil, all three of us standing there in tears at the win.

"I've spoken to many of my friends in Indian athletics who were saying that for the first time for a long time, young people in India are talking about track and field and even thinking about a career in track and field where their first port of call would probably have been cricket," said Coe.

Chopra made his Olympic debut in Tokyo at the age of 23. He won the gold medal with a throw of 87.58 metres in his second attempt. In 2011 he had started attending a gym under pressure from his family to improve his fitness. While there he saw athletes practising and developed an interest in the javelin and took up the sport.

In his interview with Laureus.com, Chopra said: "It feels incredible to be nominated for such an award. Even before I won the Olympic gold medal, I've always seen sporting legends across the globe being part of these awards. I always wanted to be one of them. Now, when my name is there on the list, I feel really special. If I win, I would like to place this Award on the top of my list since it's an international award. It's very special and I also hope that in future a lot of Indians will be nominated and will win it for India, as legend Sachin has." "I won't be able to forget the moment when I was at the podium and my National Anthem was played. It's a dream for every athlete to represent their country in the Olympics, give their best performance and to win a medal too. I got a flashback of how I started my journey, what all challenges I faced, how much hard work has been done over the years to be there at the podium and now what I've dreamed of, for years and years, has turned into reality. Also, I'll be really happy to see if I'll be able to inspire budding athletes with my hard work. I'll leave no stone unturned in fulfilment of duties for the nation and would love to see more young athletes taking up any sport, not just javelin, and winning medals for India."

Also nominated in the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year category with Chopra are tennis players Daniil Medvedev and Emma Raducanu, FC Barcelona football star Pedri, Venezuelan triple jump world record holder Yulimar Rojas and Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus. (ANI)