Anand Mahindra’s big confession as Neeraj Chopra misses out on gold at Paris Olympics

India’s ‘golden boy Neeraj Chopra could only get the silver medal at the Paris Olympics as Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem created history for his country by winning the gold medal. While Chopra said it was time to evaluate her performance and focus on future improvements, all of India reflected on what appears to be an Olympic campaign that would not yield India a single gold medal. Even businessman Anand Mahindra took to social media, admitting that he was devastated to see Neeraj lose the gold medal. But, for him, he is still a hero worthy of gold for his humility and consistency.

Chopra won silver with a best throw of 89.45 meters at the Paris Olympics. His best move came on his second attempt, but four consecutive misses hurt his chances of winning gold. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Anand Mahindra said that he had a big confession to make.

“I confess. I was devastated last night when @Neeraj_chopra1 didn’t win his second Olympic gold medal. But this morning, I want to first congratulate Arshad Nadeem on his record-breaking throw. And for his sportsmanship and camaraderie with Neeraj.

“So I want to tell Neeraj that he won a GOLD medal for consistency. He didn’t fumble, he didn’t get fouled or get confused. He quietly made his best shot of the season.

“And brought home a back-to-back medal and India’s first silver. Reliable, predictable and consistent performance is the hallmark of a great sportsman. Neeraj, you are a truly great athlete and a good human being. You have made us all proud “, he wrote in X.

I confess.

I was devastated last night when @Neeraj_chopra1 did not win his second Olympic gold medal.

But this morning, I want to first congratulate Arshad Nadeem on his record-breaking launch.
And his sportsmanship and camaraderie with Neeraj.

So I want to tell Neeraj… pic.twitter.com/4KjPPrDh2e

-anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) August 9, 2024

Following his performance, Chopra became the second post-independence male athlete to win two Olympic medals in an individual event.

Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem won gold with a throw of 92.97 meters, setting a new Olympic record and surpassing Denmark’s Andreas Thorkildsen in Beijing 2008. Anderson Peters, from Grenada, secured bronze with a throw of 88.54 meters .

Earlier, Chopra had achieved a throw of 89.34 meters in the Group B qualifying round, his second best throw ever. Despite a competitive rivalry with Nadeem, where Chopra led 9–0 in their head-to-head meetings, Nadeem’s throw of 90.18 meters at the 2022 Commonwealth Games exceeded Chopra’s maximum effort.

With ANI inputs