"It Took Me 10 Years to Get an Olympic Medal," Says Neeraj Chopra in Strong Message Against Doping

Neeraj Chopra, the two-time gold medalist at the Olympics, has joined hands with the Indian Olympic Association to lead a campaign against the offence of doping. He had signed an MoU with the IOA on an anti-doping awareness campaign for 2026. The campaign aims to educate the young athletes of India on the harms caused by doping.

Neeraj Chopraspoke on how there are no shortcuts in sports. “I have seen how kids want to enhance performance by doping to win big medals. But from my story, I can tell you it took me 10 years to get to the Olympic medal.” The Olympic gold medalist stressed the need for patience to achieve something in sports: “You need patience to achieve something in sports. I am seeing that it has come down in today’s kids. They want to achieve things quickly, cross 80m in one year. It takes five years to do that.” “Sometimes kids take supplements which might be contaminated. When I was a junior, whenever I heard about doping bans, I used to get so surprised by the time lost. I had promised myself then that I would never take this route,” he added.

The star javelin thrower of India is returning to the Doha Diamond Leagueafter sustaining a back injury. He took nine months break to recover and was last seen in action in the 2025 World Athletic Championship. The athlete also runs a foundation, the Neeraj Chopra Foundation, and opposes the use of drugs and other medications for performance enhancement.

Sportscapeemphasizes that India has ranked at the top of the World Anti-Doping Agency annual list for the highest number of doping offenders in the last three consecutive years. Neeraj Chopra’s message on anti-doping to young athletes is more significant than ever.