Lucknow . India’s javelin throw star Neeraj Chopra, who missed out on winning the gold medal in the Paris Olympics, said that there was no flaw in his performance but the day belonged to Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem who defeated him and became the champion. Chopra scored 89 in the final held on August 8. Won silver medal by throwing 45 meter javelin but Nadeem created a new Olympic record by throwing 92 meters in the first attempt. Won the gold medal by throwing a throw of 97 meters. Chopra, who won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, became the first Indian track and field player to win medals in two consecutive Olympics.
Chopra said in an interview to PTI here, “Nothing was wrong, everything was right.” The throw was also good. Getting a silver in the Olympics is no small thing, but, I think the competition was very good and the gold medal was won by whoever it was that day. That was Nadeem’s day.” Chopra, who was here to inaugurate Under Armour’s new-format brand house store at the Phoenix Palacio Mall, dismissed the notion that after hockey and cricket, javelin throw has become the new sport to witness the India-Pakistan rivalry.
He said, “There are no two teams in javelin throwing, but there are 12 athletes from different countries who are competing with each other. I have been competing with Nadeem in javelin throw since 2016 and this is the first time that Nadeem has won. When asked about Nadeem, Chopra said, he (Nadeem) is a good person, speaks well, respects, so I like him. Talking about his start in javelin throwing, he said, “It was an unexpected moment when I started it. I didn’t know anything about it. When I went to the field, at that time, this decision was taken. When asked what a javelin thrower needs most, Chopra said strength, stamina, mental stamina.
“It is a combination of all these things, and no one thing will work, but a combination of all these things, whoever has the best technique will do well,” said Chopra, who lifted the javelin for the first time in 2011. Chopra, who had visited Lucknow earlier also, said, I had earlier come to Lucknow to play in 2012 and after the Tokyo Olympics when the Chief Minister had asked me to come. This is my third visit (to Lucknow).
This 26 year old player said that there is a lot of difference between Lucknow of earlier and Lucknow of now. At that time I was very young and do not remember many things, at that time I had come by train and now a good airport has been built, a good mall has been built and this is the first time that I am able to travel and see the city so closely. . I liked it very much. Chopra also had tea at a famous outlet (Sharma’s Tea) in Lalbagh area of Lucknow and took selfies with people. While giving advice to the youth, Chopra said, I would tell the youth that they should not assume in the beginning that they will win the medal. They should be patient, because the game consumes a lot of your time. Your body needs time to grow, your muscles will strengthen in a good way, be patient and work on your techniques.
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