Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra replicated his Paris Olympics exploits at the recently-concluded Diamond League in Brussels, Belgium, after finishing second in the men’s final – with a fractured hand!
The competition was tantalisingly close, with just one centimetre separating the Haryana athlete and two-time world champion, Anderson Peters, of Grenada, who struck gold.
Chopra’s exceptional run across major javelin throw events wasn’t lost on his European female fans, whose autograph and photograph requests he was humouring, not least on a girl who asked him for his phone number.
A bystander captured the interaction on video, which later went viral on social media.
The 26-second clip shows Chopra approaching a fan jumping in excitement as he walks up to her. The woman initially asks if he’d be interested in taking a picture, which he obliges, first with her friend and then the fan herself.
After being photographed with her arm around the shoulder of the athlete, who was standing across a barricade, the girl said in a slurred voice, “Neeraj Chopra…Can I have your number?”
The javelin thrower politely turned the odd request down, appearing to say he already gave his digits to someone else, which was then met with disappointment.
The video sparked all kinds of reactions from disbelief to praise for his popularity.
A commenter wrote, “So she thought it's taht easy to get his number??? If some random guy would have asked a celebrity women her number , ppl generally call him creep!! She is a creep”
Another said, “Neeraj Chopra has certainly gained international recognition for his impressive achievements in javelin throwing. His success and charisma have earned him fans worldwide, including in Europe.”
“Cricketers can’t be compared with this guy. He must be having a huge popularity in foreign nations after two successful Olympics,” said a user on X.