Famous javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has apologized to his fans for not winning the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Neeraj, who won the gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, had to settle for silver this time, with Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem taking gold with a Games record throw of 92.97m. Despite becoming the only Indian track and field athlete to win multiple Olympic medals, Neeraj remains humble as ever. In a viral video, he was seen apologizing to fans for failing to defend his javelin throwing crown.
“I don’t have much to say, but I brought something to show you (silver medal). Sorry, like last time, the national anthem didn’t play, what I thought didn’t happen, but the medal is a medal, I worked hard and won a medal for the country and I walked around the track with the flag, it’s a different feeling for all together,” Neeraj told fans in the viral video.
– Pooja Bishnoi (@poojabishnoi36) August 10, 2024
Meanwhile, Chopra won silver in the Paris final with a throw of 89.45m behind Pakistan’s Arshad, who threw the javelin at 92.97m, an Olympic record.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters came third with a throw of 88.54m in a field that included some top-level javelin throwers such as Julian Webber, Jakub Vadlejch and Julius Yego.
Neeraj expressed dissatisfaction with his performance and revealed that the last two-three years had not been good for him in terms of fitness.
“It was a good throw, but I’m not very happy with my performance today. My technique and track weren’t that good. (I managed) only one throw, the rest I fouled,” Neeraj said according to Olympics.com.
“(For my) second pitch, I thought I could throw that far too. But in javelin, if your running isn’t that good, you won’t be able to throw very far,” Neeraj added.
The Indian javelin ace, who is also the reigning Asian Games champion, said the injuries that led to his title defense in Paris made a difference and he will have to work to shake off the injuries and improve his technique.
“The last two or three years haven’t been so good for me. I’m always injured. I’ve really tried hard, but I have to work on my injury (to stay injury-free) and my technique,” added the 26-year-old.
(With ANI inputs)
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