Neeraj Chopra is the talk of the town in India at the moment and rightfully so as well. Winning India’s only gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj’s mammoth 87.58m javelin throw is one that will reverberate across the land for years to come.

The 23-year-old, who was felicitated by the government upon his return to India on Monday, revealed why he changed his looks for the quadrennial showpiece event. "I have kept long hair since I was 9-10 years old, but of late, it started to bug me," he said at the felicitation ceremony in New Delhi.

"In a couple of competitions, it was causing me to sweat, and it was dripping onto my eyes. I tried using a hairband also, but it would fall off," Chopra explained.

"So, I thought that it's the Olympics, style baad mei ho jaayega, game pehle," he concluded.

Talking about the injury he said, "With the effort it takes from the body, I knew that the throw was something special. I thought it was my personal best throw, but it fell slightly short of that. You feel it in your body. And the next day I felt the pain on my hips, my shoulder, my elbow, but when you are winning a medal, it didn't matter, I thought that even if it caused an injury, I'll deal with it later.”

Neeraj Chopra registered a best throw of 87.58m in the men's javelin throw final to secure the gold medal in Tokyo. It was his second of six throws and he was already celebrating before the javelin was on its way down. News Desk