India’s javelin Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra broke millions of hearts when he posted photos of his wedding with United States-based tennis player Himani Mor on social media on Sunday.
In this age of social media, where it has become tough for celebrities to lead a private life, the two-time Olympic medallist managed to keep his wedding a secret, outside of the national athletics federation and a few close friends.
The newlyweds actually left India on Sunday night for their honeymoon without anyone having a clue.
According to Neeraj’s uncle Bhim Chopra, the wedding took place on Jan 17. “Only family members were in the know because Neeraj wanted it that way,” he said.
“Both of them knew each other for a while,” he told the Press Trust of India. “They met around two years back through some friends. Both families have also known each other for some time.”
Another uncle, Mr Surendra Chopra, told Aaj Tak TV network that the pair met in the U.S.
When Neeraj was asked a few months ago by an interviewer if he had a girlfriend, the 27-year-old from Haryana kept mum, stating he wanted to focus on his sport.
PTI reported that the wedding did not take place at the Olympic champion’s sprawling home in Khandra village, near Panipat in Haryana. It was held in Himachal Pradesh, away from media attention.
According to Mr Surendra, even the priest who officiated the wedding was unaware of Neeraj’s identity.
The athlete did not accept any dowry from Himani’s family, and instead took a token amount of Rs1 as “shagun’ (blessings).
Before the wedding, Himani, 25, visited Neeraj’s village and stayed there for 14 hours as part of pre-marriage rituals.
“Neeraj has competitions lined up for the next two years. So, if he didn’t get married now, it would have been postponed for two years,” said Mr Surendra. “It wasn’t a big function, only 70 people were invited.
“It was a destination wedding in Himachal Pradesh. We spent three days in the mountains. We had a lot of fun.”
Himani hails from Larsauli, near Sonepat in Haryana, about 75km from New Delhi.
She achieved a career-best national ranking of 42nd in singles and 27th in doubles in 2018, and is a graduate assistant at Amherst College in Massachusetts, where she also manages the women’s tennis team.
She is also pursuing a master’s degree from McCormack Isenberg School of Management under the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Neeraj, who recently appointed legendary Czech javelin thrower and world record-holder Jan Zelezny as his coach, will start his new season by competing in the Diamond League in China in April.
His main target though is the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, which will take place from Sept 13 to 21.
