Neeraj's honest revelation about losing Olympic gold to Arshad

India's star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has candidly reflected on his experience at the Paris Games, where he fell short of defending his Olympic gold medal. Despite his best efforts, he secured a silver with a throw of 89.45m, overshadowed by Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who set a new record with an impressive 92.97m on his second attempt.

In a recent interaction during the Mission Olympics 2036 program in Haryana, Neeraj discussed the pressure of Nadeem's throw. "The first throw impacts the athlete's mindset significantly. My first throw was good, but I fouled. I faced issues adjusting to the new track, which affected my performance," he explained.

He further elaborated, "After Nadeem's strong throw, my second attempt was decent, but I lost control. I was very angry and wanted to perform better, but I neglected some technical aspects."

"Uske baad Nadeem ne achi throw lagayi phir meri second throw bhi achi nikli. Uske baad kya hua ki kayi baar ham bolte hain na ke josh ke sath hosh bhi rakhna chahiye. Toh uss din shayad mera hosh nahi tha. Uss din mein josh mein tha. Bohot zyada gussa tha ke mujhe karna hai. Lekin kahin na kahin jo technical chizen hain wo chhoot gayin" (“Nadeem made a strong throw, and after that, I lost control. I was very frustrated because I wanted to perform better, but in my eagerness, I overlooked some technical aspects.")

Despite missing out on gold, Neeraj made history as the first Indian track-and-field athlete to win two consecutive Olympic medals, having clinched gold at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics. The competition proved intense, highlighting the challenges even elite athletes face in high-stakes scenarios.

Diamond League performance

Meanwhile, Chopra narrowly missed out on another title by just 1 centimetre, finishing second in the Diamond League final with a best throw of 87.86 meters at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium.

In the final, he started strong with a throw of 86.82-metre, placing him second behind Peters, whose winning throw came in the opening round. Julian Weber also recorded his best on his first attempt. Chopra followed up with an 83.49-meter throw and came close to overtaking Peters on his third attempt, missing by just 1 centimetre. His subsequent throws measured 82.04m, 83.30m, and 86.46m.

This marked Chopra's fifth appearance in the Diamond League final. He finished seventh in 2017, fourth in 2018, and won the Diamond League crown in 2022 with a throw of 88.44m. Last year, he finished second behind Jakub Vadlejch with a throw of 83.80m.

The 26-year-old accumulated 14 points across two Diamond League meets this season to qualify for the final. He finished second in both the Doha leg in May and the Lausanne event last month, placing fourth on the overall points table. Seven athletes competed in the men's javelin throw final.

Chopra set a national record of 89.94m at the Stockholm leg of the Diamond League in 2022 and recorded his career's second-best throw of 89.49m at the Lausanne meet last month. His silver-winning throw in Paris measured an impressive 89.45m. (With inputs from Agencies)