Javelin champion at the Tokyo Olympics 2021 Neeraj Chopra finished second at the Paris Games after his monstrous throw of 89.45m remained dwarf to Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem's throw of 92.97m in the final on Thursday. Neeraj, who came into this contest as one of the favourites, managed to clinch his second Olympic medal but could not defend his title.
Neeraj had only one legal throw out of his six attempts in the final. As the Indian champion revealed later, he was struggling with his runway and could not find the best of the rhythms. While he was not very happy with his performance, the nation and his parents were proud of his achievement in Paris.
Neeraj's mother, Saroj Devi was happy with her son's accomplishment and also gave a heartwarming statement for Pakistan's Arshad. "We are happy with the silver. The one who got the gold (Arshad Nadeem) is also my child," Neeraj's mother told media after the Javelin final.
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Neeraj was not very happy with his performance in the final. "It was a good throw but I’m not that happy with my performance today," Neeraj said after the final. "My technique and runway was not that good. (I managed) only one throw, the rest I fouled. (For my) second throw I believed in myself to think I could also throw that far. But in javelin, if your run is not so good, you can’t throw very far," he added.
The Indian Javelin star has been troubled by fitness issues and came into the Paris Olympics with three competitions on his back in 2024. "The last two or three years were not so good for me. I’m always injured. I really tried hard, but I have to work on my injury (staying injury-free) and technique. In training, I’m not doing a lot of throws because of my groin (injury). But I will work hard in future," the 26-year-old added.
He also congratulated Arshad for the win. "Today’s competition was really great. Arshad Nadeem threw really well. Congratulations to him and his country," Neeraj said.
