Neeraj Chopra in action at Paris Olympics 2024.© AFP
India's star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has made an honest revelation regarding the javelin throw final at Paris Paralympics 2024. The athlete might have done his absolute best but it was not enough for him to bag his second Olympics gold medal in a row, as Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem took the yellow metal with a record-breaking effort in the final. Nadeem managed an astonishing 92.97m in his second attempt to set the bar too high for the rest of the field, including Chopra, who seemed under pressure and managed just one legitimate throw -- the silver-winning 89.45m in the second round.
In a recent interaction, Neeraj admitted that the giant throw from Arshad on the latter's second attempt put pressure on him.
"The first throw impacts the athlete's midset to a great level. My first throw was really good, but I made a foul. I was facing some problems as the track was new. I tried to adjust to it to avoid a foul, but I failed. The competition was tough," said Neeraj in Mission Olympics 2036 program in Haryana.
"Uske baad Nadeem ne achi throw lagayi phir meri second throw bhi achi nikli. Uske baad kya hua ki kayi baar ham bolte hain na ke josh ke sath hosh bhi rakhna chahiye. Toh uss din shayad mera hosh nahi tha. Uss din mein josh mein tha. Bohot zyada gussa tha ke mujhe karna hai. Lekin kahin na kahin jo technical chizen hain wo chhoot gayin (Nedeem got a good throw. And after that I lost control of myself. I was really angry as I wanted to do better. But somewhere in that I missed the technical aspect)," he added.
While Neeraj failed to defend his Olympic gold in Paris, he became the first Indian track-and-field athlete to win two successive Olympic medals. He had won a gold medal at Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Nadeem managed an astonishing 92.97m in his second attempt to set the bar too high for the rest of the field, including Chopra, who seemed under pressure and managed just one legitimate throw -- the silver-winning 89.45m in the second round.