Olympics 2024: Vinesh Phogat© AFP
Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is keeping his fingers crossed for wrestler Vinesh Phogat as she awaits a verdict on her appeal against disqualification from the Games but at the same time, he is also hoping that "people don't forget what she did for the country" if the decision is not in her favour. Vinesh was found 100gm overweight before her 50kg category final on Wednesday and she has appealed against her disqualification in the ad-hoc division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport here. A decision on the appeal is expected to be delivered by 9.30pm IST on Saturday.
Chopra, who claimed his second successive Olympic medal -- a silver to follow up on the gold in Tokyo --, said he wants the medal around Vinesh's neck for one simple reason -- "people shouldn't forget her." "If she gets the medal, it would be very good. If things had not panned out the way they did, she would have had the medal. I hope she gets it because if you don't have it around your neck, that thing stays in your heart," the 26-year-old Chopra told reporters at 'India House' after a felicitation by IOC member and Reliance Foundation chairperson Nita Ambani.
#WATCH | Paris: On Sports Court CAS's hearing of Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, Olympic Silver medallist, Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra says "All of us know that if she gets the medal it will be really good. She would have got the medal if such a situation did not arise. If we… pic.twitter.com/TtKWF11Yzk
— ANI (@ANI) August 10, 2024
"Today people might say that she is our champion but, I feel till the time one is not on the podium they will forget after a few days. Mujhe yeh darr hai bas. Agar aisa na hota, a medal wouldn't have mattered. So, I hope she gets the medal. I just hope whether she gets the medal or not, people don't forget what she did for the country," he said.
Chopra is the first track-and-field athlete from the country to win two Olympic medals. His gold in Tokyo continues to be an unmatched achievement for Indian athletics.