Indian ace Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra bagged a Silver medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 after finishing behind Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem in a thrilling final on Thursday. Neeraj, who recorded his second-best throw of 89.45m in the final, has become the first Indian track and field athlete with medals at successive Games. He had earlier won the gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
The reigning world champion Neeraj opened up on the Javelin final and highlighted how he has been troubled by injuries in the recent past. "Whenever I throw, 60-70 percent focus is on injury. My runway was not good today, my speed was also low. Whatever I have done, I have done with this issue. I didn't have time for surgery. I was just pushing myself," Chopra said later."
He stated that he has a lot left inside him and wants to achieve his full potential. "There is a lot left in me. I have to do that. I have that feeling that I can do it. Unless I achieve that, I won't be at peace," he added.
Neeraj has been troubled by injuries in recent times. He went into the Paris Olympics with just three competitions behind him in 2024. He had to miss the Ostrava Golden Spike as a precautionary measure after feeling 'something in my adductor'.
Neeraj secured a silver medal with his season's best and career's second-best throw of 89.45m, which he achieved in his second attempt in the final. Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem broke the Olympic record with a monstrous throw of 92.97m to become his country's first individual gold medallist at the Summer Games. Arshad destroyed the competition in his second throw itself as the rest of the pack kept playing the chasing game after that. Neeraj had only one legal throw of 89.45m as he fouled on the others.
This was also the first time Neeraj lost to Arshad in a Javelin event after his nine successive wins over his Pakistan counterpart. "I have been competing with Arshad since 2010 and lost to him for the first time (today). It's a sport, we have to accept it. We will try to maintain Asian supremacy till we have strength in our body. I have learnt that mindset is the biggest thing," he said.
