Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra hoped to compete with other prominent international names in India sooner than later following his silver medal-winning effort in the Paris Olympics. Chopra bagged the silver at the Paris showpiece with a throw of 89.45m behind Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who hurled the javelin to 92.97m, an Olympic record. Anderson Peters of Grenada came third with a throw of 88.54m among the field that included some high-profile javelin throwers like Julian Webber, Jakub Vadlejch and Julius Yego.
“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 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.
Chopra said he wanted to give it all in the Paris Games final despite being below his best physically.
“The body conditions (of his) were tough. But when Arshad made that throw…I was able to hit my season’s best because the thought was set in my mind that I had to give the best throw because the competition had already become very tough.”
Mothers of Chopra and Nadeem had taken the social media by storm as they showered affection on each other’s son.
Chopra said his mother always spoke from her heart as she to date remained a simple rural soul.
“My mother…she always stayed in a village before and after her marriage. She is not familiar with social media and things like that. She often speaks from her heart. But she understands what families of athletes, even from different countries, feel towards them.”
Praise for Sreejesh, Manu
Chopra lauded shooter Manu Bhaker for showing perseverance to grab two bronze medals in the Paris Games after experiencing utter disappointment in the Tokyo edition.
“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.
“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 Indian hockey team’s goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who retired from top-level competition with a bronze at 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.” Chopra said Sreejesh offers a fine example in tackling pressure situations.
“He has so many years of experience and he knows how to tackle the pressure situations. He seemed to be in his zone when I met him before the bronze medal match,” he added.
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