The Javelin throw evolved from our ancestors using it for food, anyone who paid attention in history class will know that. When power and greed seeped in, it turned from tool to weapon. It was only in 708 BC that it got incorporated into the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece as part of the pentathlon.
An interesting fact about the sport is that the Javelin was redesigned by moving it’s centre of gravity by 4cm, this shortened the throw by 10 %approximately. This move was in direct consequence to a world record of 104.80m made by East Germany’s Uwe Hohn.
Jan Zelezny is regarded as the best javelin thrower in the history of the world, having won a series of Olympic titles from 1992-2000 with a world record of 98.48 in 1996. Neeraj Chopra isn’t very far from that record, having achieved 87.58m and grabbing the gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It’s also interesting to note that Neeraj has surpassed this distance in the year 2018 at the Asian Games parade of Nations with a throw of 88.06m.
Neeraj is from the historic town of panipat, Haryana. His professional achievements in the javelin throw began in 2013 and there has been no looking back since then. In his recent historic win, Neeraj has gained the honour of being the first Indian to bag an Olympic title in athletics. He has won the Arjuna award 2018 and the Khel Ratna award in 2021.
Intelligence type
Neeraj was a physically active kid and to channelise his energies his parents guided him into athletics, he eventually excelled in the Javelin throw. With his latest achievement in 2021, Neeraj falls directly into the ‘millionaire’ category with a mind boggling prize money of more than 10 crores from various sources.
On the Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory scale, Neeraj Chopra would probably score high in the Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence type.
Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence is often found among dancers, surgeons, actors and athletes. Bodily-Kinesthetic is considered a learning style, where learners learn quickly through physical movement. It is also known as ‘learning with hands’ These kinds of people learn more easily by doing, discovering and exploring. Do you want to know if you are a kinesthetic learner?
Moral of the story ?
Sports too begets millionaires. A new lesson for Indian parents. Perhaps, we are going to see a lot more javelins hurling over the Indian skyline? Perhaps, a lot more stars will join the Neeraj constellation ... until the next Olympics!
It is important to understand the role that skill development plays in the overall development of a child. It is an important factor in the shaping of character and personality. It also plays a huge role in early age development helping enhance the child’s social intelligence, emotional intelligence besides general IQ. Parents who are highly clued into their child’s passions or aptitudes can play a big role in nurturing children’s cognitive and social skills. Learner Circle has curated a number of online classes of short duration to cater to children who want to be engaged in after-school activities. Whether a child wants to be a Neeraj Chopra, a Mozart or a Sudha Murthy, we do have something interesting planned for every child.
Comments