The clamour to breach 90 metres might have gotten irritating for Neeraj Chopra, though it was a proper mystery why he hadn’t yet. That it had no bearing on him winning the Olympics or World Championship or any other competition he showed up at, made the mark even more intriguing and elusive. The ‘why’ wasn’t about throwing shade or nitpicking, nor abstractly rhetorical. Fans genuinely wished for that 90m to happen, believed the athlete imminently capable, and were gobsmacked it hadn’t yet. It was like wondering why Kidambi Srikanth, easily the most complete player of his generation and a fan favourite, never won the World Championships.
This chanting of numbers, obsessively manifesting it for stars, and watching it eventuate is perhaps fandom’s most meditative, therapeutic way of following sport. It keeps them invested in a completely frivolous event, even while the rest of the world is falling apart. It’s a coping mechanism and distraction that can unlock brief joy. Cricket fans, of course, are severely fixated on century-marks. But for other sports in India, the wait for 90m and it finally coming through, are the journey why fans tune in. The collective sighs over that miss by 6 centimetres back in 2022 was as much fan loyalty as was the exhaling glee after Chopra got the 90 done.