New Delhi: Olympic gold Medallist Neeraj Chopra might have become the biggest sporting star of India after his historic achievement at the Tokyo Games, however, the javelin thrower still manages to stay grounded and one of his small dreams came true on Saturday morning.
The 23-year-old took his parents on their first flight and expressed his delight on making his parents happy on social media.
"A small dream of mine came true today as I was able to take my parents on their first flight," tweeted Chopra.
Last month, he had said that he has decided to cut short his 2021 competition season to take some time off. He also said that he will come back in 2022 to participate in the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
"Firstly, I want to thank everyone for the love and affection I have received since I came back from Tokyo. I have honestly been overwhelmed by the support from across the country and beyond, and am short of words to express my gratitude to you all," Neeraj wrote in an Instagram post.
"The packed schedule of travel and a bout of illness has meant I have not been able to resume training since Tokyo and therefore, along with my team, have decided to cut short by 2021 competition season to be able to take some time off, recharge and come back stronger for a packed 2022 calendar which includes the World Championships, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games," he stated further.
Neeraj threw 87.02 metres in his first attempt but bettered his record in the second attempt with a distance of 87.58m in the grand event to bag the gold at Tokyo Olympics.
The 23-year-old also said that he was "disappointed" to see people pushing their "vested interests" following a viral video that showed Chopra on the lookout for his javelin moments before the finals of the javelin event in August.
The video doing the rounds on social video further showed him spotting his javelin in the hands of Pakistan athlete Arshad Nadeem and then rushing towards him to take it back before his first attempt on the historic night.
With inputs from ANI
