Neeraj Chopra to participate in Lausanne Diamond League meet

New Delhi: Paris Olympics silver medalist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra stated that he was fully positive competing against Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem and believed that he could have broken the gold medalist’s Olympic record but somehow “his body didn’t allow.”

Chopra, who came into the final as the favourite with a brilliant effort of 89.34m in the qualifying, threw the javelin to 89.45m, his second-best ever effort, a clear improvement on the 87.58m that bagged him the gold medal in Tokyo. But that did not prove enough for the reigning World Champion and Diamond League final winner as Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, his good friend in the sport, upstaged him by setting the Olympic record to win the gold medal with a monster heave of 92.97m.

“Nadeem is a very hardworking player and competed against him is always full of positivity and that day too I was quite sure that we would have a good fight,” said Chopra to IANS in a virtual interaction arranged by JSW. “After he made a Olympic record in his second attempt it created pressure on everyone, but since I had competed him previously I was quite sure that I will break his record after my second attempt which was close to 90, but somehow my body didn’t allow.”

Chopra started the final with a foul on his first attempt, Nadeem too fouled his first throw while Trinidad’s Keshorn Walcott took the lead with a throw of 86.16m while Anderson Peter was second at 84.70.

The Indian star did not look convincing in any of his throws except on the second turn, which was his lone legal throw on the night of 89.45m.

Chopra still made history for India, becoming the second male and third overall to win back-to-back medals in the Olympics after wrestler Sushil Kumar who won a bronze and silver in the 2008 and 2012 Games. PV Sindhu is the other Indian to win medals in successive Olympics, silver in 2016 at Rio and bronze in Tokyo 2020.

“It is never easy to perform in the Olympics and especially when you are defending your medal. The second throw and from there I knew that I can breach the Olympic record but somehow I was not able to do as my body didn’t allow. I am happy that I won a silver medal for the country, not the gold but I will work on the things which are needed to recover well,” added Chopra.

Chopra who is training in Magglingen, Switzerland with his coach Klaus Bartonietz and physio Ishaan Marwaha when asked which event Chopra is targeting next, he said, “I have finally decided to participate in the Lausanne Diamond League, which begins August 22.”

–IANS

hs/

Following the BCCI snub, PCB seeks CAS justice

New Delhi: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed that the International Cricket Council (ICC) conveyed them about BCCI’s decision to not travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy...

Do we need to look beyond Rohit and Virat?

New Delhi: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have both had a dismal home Test season. Both of these veterans unable to make any difference, whether it was against New Zealand...

ICC is under pressure from PCB to settle India’s participation in CT

New Delhi: The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are at odds over the 2025 Champions Trophy. On the one hand, BCCI is spreading news that the...

Pant, Iyer and Rahul hit road, Dhoni once more

New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bengaluru paid Virat Kohli Rs 21 crore to keep him, but Heinrich Klaasen smashed his record for the highest retention sum in IPL history. SunRisers Hyderabad...

Harshit Rana likely to make debut in Mumbai

New Delhi: With the Test series against New Zealand already lost 0-2, Team India management might be contemplating going with rookie Delhi pacer Harshit Rana, who also has decent batting...

Team India’s humiliation at home under new coach

New Delhi: New Zealand became the first touring side to win a series in India in 13 years on Saturday after India lost the second Test in Pune by 113...

Former hockey skipper Rani Rampal announces retirement

New Delhi: Legendary Indian hockey player Rani Rampal left an uplifting legacy when she announced her retirement to coach “Soorma” in the Women’s Hockey India League. Rani, a well-known personality...

CWG 2026: Six major sports eliminated, a shock to India’s medal hopes

New Delhi: A number of sports have been excluded from the 2026 Commonwealth Games, severely hurting India’s chances of winning a medal. For a number of reasons, the Glasgow Games...

BJP’s Babita, not Congress, was behind wrestlers’ protest: Sakshi

New Delhi: Olympic bronze medalist wrestler Sakshi Malik has revealed that it was the ruling party’s Babita Phogat not the Congress party, as was alleged by Bjij Bhushan Sharan Singh...

Healy firmly against Warner coming out of retirement for BGT

New Delhi: Legendary Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy said he is firmly against David Warner coming out of retirement to open the batting for Australia in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy series...

Sarfaraz has no short cuts, upper cuts makes his day

New Delhi: Taking stance, facing the possibility of scoring a ‘pair’ (second duck in the same Test), Sarfaraz Khan was determined to change his destiny. And the next 195 deliveries...

Mary Kom criticises Indian boxers’ Paris Olympics performance, says ‘I can still fight better than them

New Delhi: The six-member Indian boxing contingent, which included two World Champions and two World Championship medallists, was expected to deliver but fell short of securing any medals at the...

Read Previous

IPL franchise owners may get to rename Hundred teams despite buying minority stake: Report

Read Next

Going global: UAE merchants accept Rupee via UPI to attract Indian customers

WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com