Neeraj Chopra did not just win a gold medal, flinging the javelin a staggering 87.58m to top the charts in Tokyo, but vaulted himself into history books.
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Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra recently scripted history after leading the nation on to a historic gold medal in Javelin. Neeraj delivered a fantastic performance in the final of the men’s javelin throw event of the Tokyo Olympics, earning the nation a maiden medal in the sport as well as the track and field category. The 23-year-old was congratulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after becoming the second Indian to win an individual gold medal in the history of the Olympics. Neeraj requested PM Modi to give more importance to sports in the nation.
“The PM praised my performance and said that it will inspire the young generation and we will perform better. I also appealed to him to give more importance to sports in the country. The kids in the villages who cannot pursue sports due to lack of facilities, we should support them,” he stated in an interaction with Times Now.
The 23-year-old further added that he could not express his emotions in words.
“I cannot express the feeling in words. But I am very happy and I would like to thank all the people of our country as it is because of their prayers and wishes that I have won this gold. The feeling is yet to sink in but I am sure when I come back to India, I will realise I have done something for the country,” said Neeraj.
The 23-year-old was awarded the gold medal after recording a sensational throw of 87.58m. Jakub Vadlejch from Czech Republic won the silver, following a throw of 86.67m. Vitezslav Vesely, an athlete from the same nation as of Jakub, was awarded the bronze after recording a throw of 85.44m.
“My whole focus was on the next throw. Because if I was satisfied with the second throw and somebody else performed better, then it gets very difficult to beat that. I was focused. I was trying hard so I also faltered with a couple of throws technically. But my first two throws were perfect,” stated Neeraj.
The 23-year-old had words for praise for his family, who backed him through thick and thin.
“It is because of my family’s support that I am here. Financial support is not the only thing. They could not help me financially but they always backed me, asking me to give my best with them standing behind me,” said the Indian athlete.
Not many people are aware of the fact that Neeraj was introduced to the sport by his uncle, due to him being unfit.
“My uncle introduced me to sport because I was overweight as a child. I remember all those days going for training. I would just tell myself whatever is happening is fine. My job is to train and I will keep doing that. Now I feel that yes, it was a tough time for me but back then it didn’t feel so tough. I never thought I will stop. My life became occupied with only a couple of things: go to the stadium and practice, come back home, eat, then go back to training,” revealed the 23-year-old in an interaction with Hindustan Times.
