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PM Narendra Modi congratulates Neeraj Chopra on phone, lauds his mother's ‘sportsman spirit’
On Thursday, Chopra won silver in javelin throw at the Paris Olympics. His mother said that Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who clinched gold, was ‘like our son.’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Neeraj Chopra on Friday, a day after the javelin thrower won India its fifth medal – a silver – at the Olympic Games in Paris.
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The prime minister also enquired about Chopra's injury and lauded the sportsman spirit shown by his mother, who said that Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, the gold medallist, was 'like our son.’
“We are very happy. For us, silver is also equal to gold. The one who got the gold (Nadeem) is also like our son,” Saroj Devi had told news agency ANI.
In Thursday's final, Neeraj, who won gold at the previous Games in Tokyo in 2021, becoming only the second athlete from India to clinch gold in a non-team sport at the Olympics (after Abhinav Bindra at Beijing 2008), delivered an impressive 89.45m throw to come second.
Arshad Nadeem achieved a 92.97m throw to win the event, while Anderson Peters from Grenada (88.54m), completed the podium.
“Neeraj Chopra is excellence personified! Time and again he's shown his brilliance. India is elated that he comes back with yet another Olympic success. Congratulations to him on winning the Silver. He will continue to motivate countless upcoming athletes to pursue their dreams and make our nation proud!” the PM had posted on X (formerly Twitter) last night.
Chopra's silver is India's best performance at the current Games. The four bronze medals have come in shooting (Manu Bhaker; Manu Bhaker-Sarabjot Singh; Swapnil Kusale) and men's hockey.
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat missed out on what would have been at least a silver, after she was disqualified under the rules, having been found overweight ahead of the final bout. Phogat has approached the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to be co-awarded the silver medal.
