Happy Birthday Neeraj Chopra: 5 times the Olympic Gold medallist made news for surprising reasons
The golden boy of India, Neeraj Chopra, turned 24 today. At Tokyo Olympics 2021, Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win a gold medal in athletics. The javelin star made the country proud. Since then, Chopra has been in the news for some or the other reason (no, not bad ones). Many of them were funny moments for the country. On the other hand, for one, Neeraj took to Twitter for clarification. Let’s look back at these moments.
1. THE CRED AD
Soon after winning the gold medal, we saw Neeraj Chopra in an advertisement for Cred, a credit card management platform. The athlete turned actor, and did a pretty good job as he played several roles in a single ad. The Internet loved the athlete’s acting and many wrote, “His acting is better than many Bollywood stars. Ye apne biopic me khud kaam karega (He will play himself in his biopic)...”
2. RESPONSE TO JAVELIN CONTROVERSY
During an interview, Neeraj said that he was searching for his javelin before the final match. And he found that it was with Arshad Nadeem from Pakistan. After this comment, many believed that Nadeem tried to tamper with Neeraj’s javelin.
Later, Neeraj took to Twitter and shared a video in which he said, “Arshad Nadeem was not tampering with my javelin. He was just practising for his throw and nothing else. We keep our personal javelin during the event, and anyone can use it. There is no specific rule about it.”
मेरी आप सभी से विनती है की मेरे comments को अपने गंदे एजेंडा को आगे बढ़ाने का माध्यम न बनाए। Sports हम सबको एकजूट होकर साथ रहना सिखाता हैं और कमेंट करने से पहले खेल के रूल्स जानना जरूरी होता है ?? pic.twitter.com/RLv96FZTd2
— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) August 26, 2021
3. THE RJ'S MOMENT THAT WENT WRONG
Red FM's RJ Malishka Mendonsa received major backlash after posting a video on social media. In the video, she, along with her colleagues, can be seen dancing for Neeraj Chopra on the song Ude Jab Jab Zulfein Teri. The video was a sneak peek from RJ Malishka’s interview with Neeraj Chopra, and Chopra sat in silence, an awkward smile plastered on his face while the ladies danced on the other side of the video interview. Many people on social media called this incident ‘harassment’.
Ladiesssss..Yes I got the hard hitting, deep answers too but..Take the first 4 secs before the cam moves to the zoom call to guess who we are dancing for? ;) #udejabjabzulfeinteri and then tell me I did it for all of us? #gold #olympics #neerajchopra @RedFMIndia @RedFM_Mumbai pic.twitter.com/SnEJ99MK31
— Mumbai Ki Rani (@mymalishka) August 19, 2021
4. PARENTS’ FIRST FLIGHT
One of Neeraj’s posts from September 2021 made everyone say aww. He shared a photo with his parents and wrote, “A small dream of mine came true today as I was able to take my parents on their first flight.”
A small dream of mine came true today as I was able to take my parents on their first flight. आज जिंदगी का एक सपना पूरा हुआ जब अपने मां - पापा को पहली बार फ्लाइट पर बैठा पाया। सभी की दुआ और आशिर्वाद के लिए हमेशा आभारी रहूंगा ?? pic.twitter.com/Kmn5iRhvUf
— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) September 11, 2021
5. VOGUE COVER
We saw Neeraj Chopra’s completely different avatar when he posed for Vogue India’s November issue. His pictures from the issue were circulated widely.
Had a lot of fun shooting this Cover with @VOGUEIndia and great to see all the positive feedback this has been getting. Like I said in the interview, this Olympic medal is only the beginning and I'm now focused on winning many more medals for my country. ?? pic.twitter.com/i5uvmWLj1f
— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) November 7, 2021