In recent years, few Indian athletes have had an impact on the country to the extent that javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has. Ever since he came into the limelight with his performances in major competitions, he has gone from strength to strength.
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Most recently, the 26-year-old achieved two major landmarks in 2023. With his gold medal in the World Championships in Hungary, he became the first Indian to win gold in the event, and completed the unique achievement of winning gold in every major athletics championship.
Neeraj then went on to win his second Asian Games gold medal in China, but the hard work does not stop there. 2024 is an Olympics year, and he will be looking to repeat his excellent performance from Tokyo, three years ago.
Neeraj Chopra diet - What does the javelin champion eat?
On Saturday, the javelin star appeared on the Fit India Podcast to discuss the sporting culture in India, support required for young athletes and his own journey from dreaming of representing India to actually doing so.
Neeraj was asked about the importance of nutrition and diet in athletes' lives, and about his own diet. He said,
Diet is as important as training for us. The most important thing is to have a lot of natural foods, like fruits or salads. If I talk about myself, then I have breakfast before training. That is usually fruits, yogurt (dahi), oats, eggs. After that, some juice and dry fruits.
During training, we have banana, or coconut water as well. Around 15-20 minutes after training, I usually have a protein shake. We try to eat as much as possible naturally, but because athletes require a lot, we have to supplement that with shakes. For lunch, I have pulses, curd, rice with vegetables.
Neeraj's evening training sessions are often quite intensive, lasting up to three or four hours. As a result, he said, wheat and rice are avoided at dinner time, in favour of vegetables or salads. He concluded by emphasising the importance of a healthy diet not just for athletes, but for everyone.
Neeraj Chopra's sweet tooth - What are his 'cheat meals'?
Despite his strict adherence to a regimented diet plan, Neeraj does have the occasional unhealthy 'cheat meal'. He said, "I like sweets very much, especially having gulab jamun with ice cream. I don't know how many people do that, but I like it very much."
"Other than that, I like kalakand, or when I go home to my village, we use desi ghee to make churma and have it with roti. During Diwali time I had a lot of sweets, as it was a bit of a light period training-wise. However, when regular training is going on, control is very important at that time."
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