Olympics 2024: Neeraj Chopra won silver in javelin throw.© AFP
Neeraj Chopra once again provided a silver lining to India's campaign at the Olympics by winning the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Games. The star athlete threw a season best distance of 89.45m to take home the silver in javelin throw. Neeraj has been one of the most consistent athletes for India winning medals at all major events including the World Championships, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
Apart from his stellar show that helped India climb up the medal tally, the one thing everyone is talking about the watch that Neeraj wore during the event. For the record, ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024, Neeraj became one of the ambassadors of the watchmakers Omega. He had sported a "Ultra Light" from the Seamaster Aqua Terra collection then. The official site of Omega lists the watch's price as Rs 52,13,200.
Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra hoped to compete with other prominent international names in India sooner than later following his silver medal-winning effort in the Paris Olympics.
Was trying to identify the watch Neeraj Chopra was wearing during the qualifications. Apparently it's an Omega Aqua Terra 'Ultra light', costs 52 lakh?!@avataramhttps://t.co/MyUkTNA6E7 pic.twitter.com/HtU0jXqUbq
— शेषनाथ (@vaisvamitra) August 7, 2024
Chopra bagged the silver at the Paris showpiece with a throw of 89.45m behind Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who hurled the javelin to 92.97m, an Olympic record.
Anderson Peters of Grenada came third with a throw of 88.54m among the field that included some high-profile javelin throwers like Julian Webber, Jakub Vadlejch and Julius Yego.
"It's a dream of mine to compete with other international stars in India. Hopefully, there will be an international competition soon in India and I can do that," Chopra said during an interactive session with fans organised by the Olympics.com But before that, Chopra, whose silver was his second successive Olympics medal after the gold in Tokyo, said he wanted to work on certain areas of his game. "I am entering a new season now. So, I don't have that much time to change training methods or technique. But I hope to improve upon a couple of areas, especially the line of the javelin.
"You know, the correct angle of throwing so that I get more power in my throw. I will certainly work on it," he said.
Chopra said he wanted to give it all in the Paris Games final despite being below his best physically.
"The body conditions (of his) were tough. But when Arshad made that throw...I was able to hit my season's best because the thought was set in my mind that I had to give the best throw because the competition had already become very tough."
With PTI inputs