India’s Neeraj Chopra secured a historic silver medal in javelin at the Paris Olympics this week, adding to his gold from the previous Games in Tokyo. His silver stands as India’s only second-place finish in this edition (alongside five bronze), with the nation still awaiting a decision on Vinesh Phogat’s appeal. The wrestler requested for a joint silver after she was disqualified from the gold medal bout due to being overweight by a mere 100 grams.
Neeraj, one of India’s most consistent athletes, is not only the current javelin world champion but also a gold medalist at both the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. The 26-year-old has now expressed a strong desire to see international javelin competitions to be held in India, eager to compete against the world’s best throwers on his home soil.
“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, as quoted by PTI.
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.
Neeraj also spoke in detail about Manu Bhaker, who clinched two medals at the Paris Olympics (both bronze). Bhaker won a bronze in 10m air pistol individual and mixed team events.
“The way Manu Bhaker prepared her mind and came from her Tokyo setback is impressive. Her mindset appeared to be very strong this time while taking part in back-to-back competitions. I think it’s just a start for her because I saw even people over 50 (age) were participating in shooting,” said Neeraj.
“I hope Manu will play in a lot more competitions, bring a lot more medals for the country and change the colour of the medal too,” he said.”
The 26-year-old also hailed the Indian hockey team’s goalkeeper, PR Sreejesh, who retired from top-level competition with a bronze in Paris.
“Sreejesh is a very relaxed and funny person. He motivates younger players a lot. Sreejesh bhai had said that he would retire after the Olympics. The players, I think, also felt that they should win it for Sreejesh bhai after doing so many great things for the team,” said Neeraj.
