'I haven't achieved a 90m throw yet but ... ': Neeraj Chopra after winning silver medal at Paris Olympics

NEW DELHI: India's star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who won the silver medal at the Paris Games, commended Arshad Nadeem's outstanding performance after the Pakistani athlete clinched the gold medal. Chopra acknowledged that this marked the first instance since 2016 where Arshad had triumphed over him in competition.


Despite entering the final as the favorite, having recorded an impressive 89.34 meters in the qualifying round, Neeraj's best effort of 89.45 meters, his second-best ever and a significant improvement from his gold medal-winning throw of 87.58 meters in Tokyo, was not enough to secure the top spot.


Arshad's Olympic record-breaking throw of 92.97 meters earned him the gold medal.

Arshad's remarkable performance saw him surpass the 90-meter mark twice, shattering the previous Olympic record held by Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen (90.57m in Beijing 2008). He concluded the competition with another massive throw of 91.79 meters on his final attempt.


Arshad's victory not only earned Pakistan its first Olympic medal since Barcelona 1992 but also made history as the country's first individual Olympic gold medal won by a Pakistani athlete.


"Arshad performed well and I would like to congratulate him. I've been competing with him since 2016, and this is the first time he has won while competing together," said Neeraj after the final.

Neeraj slipped towards the end of his throw on his initial attempt and it was ruled out as invalid. However, he brought himself back into the game with a season's best of 89.45m on his second attempt, before he stepped out and decided not to log the third throw, which barely crossed the 80m mark.

"Despite the injury, I am pushing myself hard. The throw was good, but I still have a lot left in me, and I need to stay fit to achieve it," said the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist.

The top five throws in the men's javelin throw final have all been better than the 87.58m that won Neeraj the gold at Tokyo, showcasing how intense the level of competition has been at the Stade de France on Thursday night.


"I haven't achieved a 90-meter throw yet, but during the second attempt, I felt that today might be the day. I have faith in myself, and I know I'll reach that milestone someday. Holding your flag and winning a medal for your country is an incredible feeling," said Neeraj.

The reigning world and Asian Games champion acknowledged that frequent injuries before Paris 2024 hindered his title defense preparations. "The last two or three years were not so good for me. I’m always injured. In training, I’m not doing a lot of throws because of my groin (injury) I really tried hard, but I have to work on my injury (staying injury-free) and technique," he concluded.

Meanwhile, Neeraj become the second Indian men's athlete 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. Shuttler PV Sindhu is the other Indian to win consecutive medals - silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo -- at the Games.