Tokyo Olympics: Indian athletics should make it count this time 

Naib Subedar Neeraj Chopra - India's biggest medal hope at theTokyo Olympics

Naib Subedar Neeraj Chopra - The brightest medal hope for India at Tokyo Olympics athletics

Some athletes are not the best in the league to begin with but develop the capability to become such with time. One of them is Naib Subedar Neeraj Chopra. A tall, lanky athlete, Neeraj couldn't make it in time for the Rio Olympics. However, he broke the national record with an impressive throw of 86.48 at the World Junior Championships.

Not only was this a historic feat, but had he pulled it off at the Rio Olympics, it would have earned him a historic bronze as well. As of now, Neeraj Chopra is the Asian stalwart of the javelin throw, second only to the likes of Germans Johannes Vetter and Thomas Rohler. His best throw of 88.07m would have garnered him a historic gold medal at the World Championships in 2019.

The current Asian Champion only needs to keep cool. It has been an agonizing wait for him, forcefully extended by the second wave of COVID-19. However, if he gets his share of adequate warm-ups, Neeraj Chopra can achieve at the Tokyo Olympics what has been a long time coming for Indian athletics - a historic gold medal.