Neeraj Chopra won a gold medal in the men’s javelin throw final at the Tokyo Olympics last Saturday with such a remarkable performance of 87.5 meters. Well, with victory, Neeraj also became the first second Indian ever to win an individual gold medal there at the Olympics and the very first Indian to achieve an Olympic medal in track and field. When Neeraj won India’s first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Indian famous people went to social networking sites to express their joy.
On August 7, this 23-year-old not just only secured an incredible victory to end India’s century-long wait in track and field at Olympics, but he has also heralded the debut of India’s fresh new athletic sensation with strength, composure, flair, and a stunning appearance.
The doors have finally been thrown open. In less than a day after the following Olympic success, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra vowed to award the javelin thrower an SUV; edtech giant Byju’s announced reward money of Rs 2 lakh, and IndiGo awarded him the first year of free airline travel.
Chopra, as per label analysts, has joined the elite group of Indian athletes with core values that can bring in hundreds of sponsorships. Some go on to say that perhaps the person also with a golden arm may even outperform some, though not all, of India’s top players, who are considered demigods that tower over athletes from many other sports.
Chopra has served as a brand ambassador for a variety of companies, including Amstrad, a British electronics retailer. But, as per brand consultant Dilip Cherian, after Tokyo, his brand image would skyrocket. “Persons who have won gold in track and field are all quite exceptional. As a result, the number of individuals suitable for such a branding market has a very limited choice set,” he adds.
Chopra’s service in the Indian Army (as a subordinate commissioned officer) further distinguishes him as an outlier, which serves to his benefit in the current climate of hype nationalism.
“The amount of participants inside this Indian market that have a mixture of an army background, Olympic experience, commercial acumen, and such is quite small,” adds Cherian. In today’s market parameters, he believes Chopra’s brand worth may rise to five times the same of shooter Abhinav Bindra after accounting for inflation, the size of the economy, and other factors. After his 2008 success, Bindra, India’s then the only individual Olympic gold medalist, was rumored to have been demanding a sponsorship fee of roughly Rs 1 crore.
Chopra’s sport (track and field), the importance of personal performance on the performance of the team, as well as the reality that he’s been a “young talented adult,” according to image gurus, all works into his favor. Some have even gone as far as to argue that he really is better than the majority of cricketers.
His modest beginnings — he was raised in the rural family in Panipat, Haryana — would allow a diverse range of companies to engage with him, although he also symbolizes talent and specialization that advertising pursuing similar values may tap into.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, the very first serving army officer to promote businesses, having won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Games.
