Having won India its first-ever Olympic gold medal in athletics, star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra returned home to a grand fanfare, with people flocking the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi to catch a glimpse of the country’s new poster boy. 

Huge welcome of Olympic Champion #NeerajChopra at Delhi Airport today pic.twitter.com/ntoC9oKvB0

— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) August 9, 2021

From the Indian government to the Indian Army, several felicitation ceremonies were conducted to honour the country’s golden boy, whose throw of 87.58m etched his name in the history of Indian sports as he ended the country’s wait for an Olympic medal in athletics by winning a gold medal in men’s javelin throw. 

General Bipin Rawat #CDS applauded Subedar Neeraj Chopra and complimented him for his phenomenal performance in #OlympicGames, #Tokyo2020 that brought laurels to the Nation.#IndianArmy#StrongAndCapable pic.twitter.com/dlfPXj8sVk

— ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) August 10, 2021

After returning, Neeraj, who is a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Rajputana Rifles, met with the Chief of Defense Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army chief General MM Naravane along with his family members. 

© Reuters

It’s time for each one of us to celebrate Neeraj’s achievement but instead, some morons on social media are hell-bent on talking about everything but that. 

Last week, they even dug up his old tweets and began a campaign against him just because his political ideology is in contrast to theirs and now, they have a problem with the attire he was wearing. 

General MM Naravane #COAS also congratulated the family members of Subedar Neeraj Chopra on his stupendous performance. (2/2)#IndianArmy#StrongAndCapable pic.twitter.com/7ciroyUlg1

— ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) August 10, 2021

When Neeraj met with the top Indian Army officials, he was wearing the India jersey along with cargo pants and sports shoes and some toxic people, instead of congratulating the athlete, decided to make an issue about his appearance. 

Some people are like that, they are never happy with anything and just love to complain about everything, whether it concerns them or not, because their prime objective is to make the environment toxic with their negative comments. 

I think issue might not be about him not wearing uniform.

It must be about him wearing folded cargo pants while meeting the CDS & the General in their office.

— Shreekant SN (@Shreekant_SN) August 11, 2021

He needn’t have met them in uniform. A mufti with blazer, cropped hair and shoes (with socks) would’ve been more than enuf ;) No saluting reqd there ...

— Lie Doggo (@ben10jt) August 11, 2021

Thankfully, not everyone is like them and there are many sane-minded people who are ready to show these toxic people their true place: 

Twitter is that place that has a problem with Neeraj Chopra not being in uniform for his Army ceremonials when even the Army doesn’t have an issue, and has clearly made an exception for the Olympic hero.

— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) August 11, 2021

“Twitter is that place that has a problem with Neeraj Chopra not being in uniform for his Army ceremonials when even the Army doesn’t have an issue, and has clearly made an exception for the Olympic hero,” wrote journalist Shiv Aroor on the micro-blogging site.

The people who have a problem cannot even win a gold medal at school level competition.

To give their words any weight would be as useful as Rahul Gandhi as an MP in Amethi.

— Samu Rai (@SamuraiSpeakin) August 11, 2021

Winners focus on winning, losers focus on winners. #NeerajChopra

— राजीव (@ThePlenipotent) August 11, 2021

It's between the person who won the gold medal and Army. Even CEO of twitter has no right to tell what is right vs wrong. Let other twitter gurus with free wifi data. Khud to ghar baith ke half pant me office ka kaam kar rahe honge.

— FrustratedCitizen (@FrustratedCit11) August 11, 2021

Ever since he won a gold in Tokyo, Neeraj has become the most sought after personality in the country and when he returned home, he had to attend one event after the other. 

On top of that, the race to get an exclusive interview with him began among the media houses and we all know how tiring that could be for any celebrity. But still, he did his best and entertained everyone. 

© Reuters

It’s a pity that instead of celebrating his achievement some people are spending their energy on things that don't matter at all. This is not a one-off instance and we definitely need to learn how to treat our champions better.

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