As an awe-inspiring Neeraj Chopra, 25, strolled into the media centre of the Athletes Village on Saturday morning, there was a hint of nervous excitement among the Indian media contingent waiting to meet him.
  
The situation resembled the scene at most international competitions Chopra has participated in since his gold medal-winning show (88.06m) at the 2018 Jakarta Asiad that kicked off his superstardom. His global competitors, Germany’s Julian Weber, 29, and Johannes Vetter, 30, Granada’s Andersen Peters, 25, Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch, 32, and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, 26, would have undergone similar emotions just like the Indian scribes as they tested Chopra with their skill and knowledge. And just like he successfully negotiated all competition on the field, first with a 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medal (87.58m) and more recently, with a gold at the 2023 Budapest World Championships (88.17m), Chopra smoothly handled the negotiations off it.

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