‘How come you play?’: Neeraj Yadav remembered as a friend, motivator and ‘lively person’

He remembered Neeraj Yadav as a friend NEW DELHI: “Aye pehelwaan kaisi hai?” – that’s how Suvarna Raj remembers Neeraj Yadav talking to her. The two para-athletes shared years of training, laughter and memories. For Suvarna, who won gold at the 2026 Asian Para Games, Neeraj was ‘zindadil insaan’ – a person full of life who always found ways to encourage others, especially young athletes.The athletic field will no longer resound with his laughter. His fellow athletes will miss the way he waved his hands, called them by their familiar nicknames and brought life to every encounter.Three-time Asian Para Games gold medalist Neeraj was found dead in Delhi on Tuesday evening. Preliminary reports suggested he may have ingested poison, although the circumstances of his death remain unclear. His body has been taken to Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital for a post-mortem examination, while a police investigation is underway.To those who trained with him, he was a friend, a comrade in arms, an older brother and a source of encouragement. The news of his death left the para-athletic community in shock.Head coach S Satyanarayana, who was close to Neeraj, found it difficult to cope with the loss.“Neeraj died by suicide. I was close to him. He was a very good person. His body is at GTB hospital. They are yet to hand over the body to us. A difficult time for all of us,” Satyanarayana told TimesofIndia.com.

‘He was my roommate’

For Navdeep Singh, India’s Paris Paralympic javelin gold medalist and 2026 Asian Para Games bronze medalist, Neeraj was more than just an athlete. He was the older brother he roomed with during training camps and competitions.He was asleep when his phone rang in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. It was fellow para-javelin thrower and Paralympic champion Sumit Antil who asked him to rush to the hospital and inform him about Neeraj.Navdeep rushed to GTB Hospital where he learned that Neeraj had died. The athlete’s body was subsequently taken for an autopsy as authorities began to investigate the circumstances of his death.Recalling their time together, Navdeep said they shared a room during a training session in Bengaluru in 2023. They also traveled together for competitions, including the 2022 IWAS World Games in Portugal.“We were roommates for a long time. We shared a room in Bengaluru when we were training there in 2023. Whenever we traveled for competitions, we stayed together. We also went to Portugal for the 2022 IWAS World Games,” recalled Navdeep.“We trained together for a long time, from 2021 to 2023. We were part of the same group.What Navdeep remembers most about Neeraj is his innocence and playful nature. Although Neeraj was older, they shared an easy friendship filled with jokes and laughter.“He was innocent and had a great sense of humor. He was much older than me, but we never felt that much of an age difference. He jokingly called me ‘bhai saab’ and used words for me that people usually use for someone older. We were like people of the same age when we were together. We joked a lot and spent a lot of time together. There are so many memories that it’s hard to pick just one or two deep ones.”“We used to go out together whenever we had some work. Sometimes we would go to the market for juice or watch movies. He was very fond of movies and I also like watching them. We spent a lot of time together and shared many memories,” he said.

‘living human being’

Suvarna knew Neeraj from the early years of her athletic career. She started training around 2016-17 and the two trained together before traveling to the 2018 Asian Para Games.Suvarna was in contact with him shortly before leaving for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games in Japan. She needed a disc and Neeraj offered to help her arrange it.Little did she know that their conversation would be among their last.“I spoke to him two days before I left. I needed a discussion and he said he would try to arrange it for me. I left two days later and we didn’t speak again,” Suvarna recalled.Neeraj was in Sonipat at that time and told her that he would try to arrange the equipment.“There were only two days left before I left. He was in Sonipat and said he would try to arrange it. Now I’m still wondering what happened and why things turned out this way. It’s hard to understand because he was such a strong person,” she said.Suvarna also remembered the way Neeraj spoke to people. His familiar way of addressing her as “pehelwaan” became part of their friendship.“We have been training together since I started my athletics career around 2016-17. We also went to Asia together in 2018. I liked the way he spoke. He had his own style and always called me ‘pehelwaan’. That was something he said regularly,” she said.“I still can’t come to terms with what happened. Honestly, I feel like there’s more to the story and that we’re not hearing everything. It’s still very hard for me to believe,” Suvarna said.

An athlete who encouraged others

Competing in the F55 category, Neeraj served a four-year ban after testing positive for a banned substance, disqualifying him from the 2026 Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya. He was also stripped of the javelin and discus gold medals he won at the 2023 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou. The loss of those medals also meant the loss of the associated government cash prize and the prospect of a government job.Diagnosed with residual paralysis after polio at the age of seven, Neeraj first took up wheelchair tennis before moving on to para-athletics.At the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, he won gold in javelin with an Asian record throw of 29.84 meters. He won gold in the javelin and discus at the 2023 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou. These medals were subsequently taken away after his doping case.But Suvarna finds it difficult to reconcile the circumstances of Neeraj’s death with the encouragement he continued to offer other athletes. She recalled how he recently motivated another athlete, Anmol, urging him not to give up and work towards a comeback.“He was such a strong person and always motivated others. We have an athlete named Anmol who was encouraged by Neeraj just three or four days ago. He motivated Anmol so much that he felt inspired to continue,” said Suvarna.“Neeraj would tell him not to give up and encourage him to come back. He would say, ‘Keep up the good work. Work hard. Do this, do that.’ He also reminded Anmol that I had won a medal at the age of 44. And then suddenly we got this message.’Suvarna said that Neeraj also talked about returning to the pageant in 2028. This conversation makes his death even harder for her to understand.“We never heard that he was depressed about his sport. I spoke to Anmol early this morning and he told me that Neeraj was talking about 2028. He was saying, ‘Just wait and see what I do in 2028 when I come back. Everyone will remember that comeback.’ He spoke like that only recently,” she added.