Why 'gol gappas' are best street food for athletes, Neeraj Chopra answers

With a stunning throw of 86.65m in his first attempt at the Tokyo Olympics, Neeraj Chopra has successfully qualified for javelin throw finals.

In his conversation with ESPN, Chopra said that he is a completely different person when he is practising. “It's a completely different feeling while training for the games. There is a different kind of passion,” he said.

Further, he went on to share his favourite food, diet while training, and why gol gappas are the best street food for athletes.

Read | First throw perfect but will need to improve in finals: Neeraj Chopra

When asked about his diet during tournaments, he said, “On match days, I don't like to eat anything that's too fatty. I prefer eating things like salads or fruits. I also like to eat things like grilled chicken breast and eggs.”

Talking about his favourite cheat food, Chopra said, “I usually restrict the amount of sweets I eat normally so when I get the chance to have a cheat meal, I'll usually eat a lot of sweets.”

Chopra had an interesting take on Indian street food. He said, “I think there is no harm in eating gol gappas. It's mostly water and most of your stomach gets filled with water. The papri is quite big but the amount of flour is very little. It's mostly water that's going inside you. There is some amount of spice but that's another matter.”

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Chopra has bagged gold medals in both Commonwealth Games and Asian in 2018 and became the first Indian to do so in track and field events.

“If you are talking about gol gappas, there's about as much flour as would be in a couple of rotis. Even if you think you are eating a lot, you are mostly filling yourself with water. Of course, I wouldn't suggest you have them daily but I think it's ok for an athlete to have a few gol gappas once in a while,” he added.

Chopra is also a good cook. He says he makes namkeen chawal (spicy rice) very well.

While he mentioned that he often eats bread and omelette in a week, he also said that salmon fish is a recent addition to his diet.