Neeraj Chopra has created history again by becoming the second Indian and first man from the country to win a medal at the World Athletics Championship. With a throw of 88.13m, the Indian Javelin star came second in the WAC finals to bag the silver medal.
Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who has been a good friend of Chopra, also entered the final. However, he could only manage to finish fifth with a throw of 86.16m. The two have been friends for a long time, but the world came to know about it after the 2020 Olympics when Neeraj Chopra openly defended his Pakistan counterpart against online trolls. During a press conference after the WAC final, Chopra said that he spoke with Nadeem and congratulated him on a commendable job.
“I spoke to Arshad after the competition ended. I told him that he did very well. He replied that he had issues with his elbow. I further congratulated him for a great throw and it was a great comeback from his injury and it was commendable that he threw the javelin over 86 metres,” said Neeraj.
I felt a discomfort in my thigh- Neeraj Chopra
Neeraj also talked about his own discomfort in the final. After his fourth throw, the 24-year-old felt discomfort in his thigh and his next two throws were fouls.
“After the 4th throw, I did feel a bit of discomfort in my thigh, I wasn’t able to put in that much effort. That was on my mind, but I just wanted to make sure I can throw. So I strapped my thigh. Hopefully, it will be fine. I will know by morning how it feels or if there is something to worry about,” said Neeraj.
Neeraj Chopra will now fly to England and join the Indian contingent for the upcoming Commonwealth Games 2022. The Javelin star is the favourite to win Gold in the Commonwealth Games as well. The CWG starts on July 29th in Birmingham.
Interestingly this will be the first time that Women’s Cricket is being included in the prestigious event.
