"Very proud to be on the podium for India": Neeraj Chopra
Aug 10, 2024
Paris [France], August 10 : Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who won the silver medal at Paris Olympics, said that he is proud to be on the podium for India once again.
Chopra fell short of retaining his gold medal in the men's javelin throw at the ongoing marquee event securing silver with a best throw of 89.45 meters.
Taking to his official X handle, Neeraj said that he will be working harder so that next time the national anthem can be played at the Olympics. He also thanked his fans for supporting him.
"Felt really good on winning another medal for India at the Olympics. Our national anthem could not be played in Paris this time, but my hardwork in coming days will be for that moment. Very proud to be on the podium for India once again at the Olympic Games. Thank you for the love and support. Jai Hind," Neeraj Chopra wrote on X. Neeraj won gold in the previous Olympics.
https://x.com/Neeraj_chopra1/status/1822271961545732128
Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won gold with a throw of 92.97 meters, setting a new Olympic record and surpassing Denmark's Andreas Thorkildsen's mark from Beijing 2008. Grenada's Anderson Peters secured bronze with a throw of 88.54 meters.
Earlier, Chopra had achieved a throw of 89.34 meters in the Group B qualification round, his second-best all-time throw. Despite a competitive rivalry with Nadeem, where Chopra led 9-0 in their head-to-head matchups, Nadeem's throw of 90.18 meters at the 2022 Commonwealth Games exceeded Chopra's top effort.
Following the failure to defend his gold medal, Neeraj expressed dissatisfaction with his performance and revealed that the last two to three years were not good for him in terms of fitness.
"It was a good throw but I am not that happy with my performance today. My technique and runway was not that good. (I managed) only one throw, the rest I fouled," Neeraj said according to Olympics.com.
"(For my) second throw I believed to think I can also throw that far. But in javelin, if your run is not so good, you cannot throw very far," added Neeraj.
The Indian ace javelin thrower, who also is the current Asian Games champion, said that injuries leading to his title defence in Paris made some difference and he will have to work on being injury-free and on his technique.
"The last two or three years were not so good for me. I am always injured. I really tried hard, but I have to work on my injury (staying injury-free) and technique," the 26-year-old added.
