The camaraderie between Indian superstar Neeraj Chopra and Pakistani javelin ace Arshad Nadeem clearly shows that sport transcends borders and brings people together, says former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh. On Thursday, Nadeem won the gold medal with an impressive Olympic throw of 92.97m, while defending champion Chopra won silver with a season’s best throw of 89.45m in Paris. “We saw some good pictures of Neeraj and Nadeem, after the ceremony, talking… with both of them holding their own flags and respecting each other as sportsmen. sport unites everyone, a great message from both,” said Harbhajan.
“See, it’s like India-Pakistan. When we play against Pakistan in cricket, we are obviously very competitive on the field, but when it comes off the field, we share a good bond.” The 44-year-old off-spinner, currently a Rajya Sabha MP, also alluded to Chopra’s mother’s statement after the javelin final in Paris.
Congratulations Arshad.. Great photo Sport brings everyone together @ArshadOlympian1 https://t.co/afyJOffWnI
– Turbantor Harbhajan (@harbhajan_singh) August 9, 2024
“Neeraj’s mother gave a great statement that even the gold winner (Nadeem) is also some mother’s son and is also like our own son. So it’s good to see this kind of statement coming and obviously the sport is something more.
“Congratulations to him (Nadeem) for winning the gold and Neeraj, he is our pride, our hero, he is a legend.” Harbhajan said Chopra has been an inspiration to the younger generation with his exploits on and off the field.
“What he did is a great thing for all of us, keeping the flag high is the biggest priority. Being an athlete, I can understand that you always want to finish on top, but sport is about giving your best and he has given his best, even though he didn’t manage to win the gold.
“But he won a lot of hearts and definitely inspired generations and congratulations to Neeraj for winning back-to-back medals for India. That’s great,” said Harbhajan, one of India’s greatest spinners.
Harbhajan also expressed her disappointment over wrestler Vinesh Phogat being disqualified from the 50kg gold medal fight for being 100g overweight, prompting her to announce a shock retirement after filing an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decision .
“It is very disappointing and sad to see Vinesh not being able to play in the final just because he was 100g overweight. If you notice, 100g is nothing but the rules in the Olympics and they are for everyone.
“Obviously, as an athlete, she must be going through a lot. All we can say is that we are by her side in this difficult period and we hope that she recovers one day because it is very difficult for anyone to go through this as she was close to getting medal for India.
“It’s very disappointing not to see her with the gold medal, but she is our gold medal, she is our pride, she is the nation’s hero.” He declined to dwell on whether the issue could have been handled better.
“Of course they have the team, they worked hard to resolve the situation, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.” PTI SR PDS PDS AH AH
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