Neeraj Chopra Vows To Come Stronger After Paris Olympics Silver, Needs Improvements In ‘Throwing Angle’

Paris: Neeraj Chopra admitted there is more work to be done with his run-up and throwing angle after missing out on his second successive Olympic gold medal in Paris last Thursday. Coming in as a defending champion in Paris, the Indian javelin ace had to be satisfied with a silver medal as Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem took the gold with a Games record monstrous throw of 92.97 metres. Neeraj threw his spear to a distance of 89.45m, his second-best in career.

Neeraj vowed to come back stronger, eyeing another gold at the Los Angeles Olympics four years later. “I’m happy with my strength, but I feel that if my throwing angle improves, I can throw better. I’m yet to see my videos. The height was falling a bit short. I need to work on my run-up, and if I stay healthy, I will throw better,” said Chopra, who has had a series of injuries in the build-up to the Olympics.

The 26-year-old hopes for India to get hosting rights for the 2036 Olympics. “It was a good Olympics for our Indian team overall. There were lots of fourth positions, and they really fought well. It would be great if the Olympics come to India in 2036,” he said.

Chopra felt people in cricket-mad India are gradually getting hooked on Olympics disciplines, and that’s a sign that things are changing. “It’s good that people are watching our games now. They watch our games live; they wake up very early and sleep late. This is one of the signs that Indian sports have changed. If parents encourage their children to go to the stadium, then things will change even more,” he said.

After Nadeem won the gold medal in Paris, Chopra’s mother, Saroj Devi, remarked that the Pakistani athlete is “also our child”. Off the field, the duo enjoys good relations. “My mother belongs to a village. There isn’t much mobile or media there, so whatever they say, they say it from the heart, like a mother. She was also praying for me like all other Indians. So whatever she felt in her heart, she said it,” Chopra said.

“Sports always bring the two countries together. The border issue is a different matter. We try to unite through sports. We also think about living peacefully, but that’s not in our hands,” he signed off.