History-maker Neeraj Chopra reveals touching conversation with Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem after World Championships final
Chopra only became the second Indian athlete to claim a podium-finish at the Worlds after the legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George, who had finished with the bronze medal back in 2003 in Paris. Following the historic win, Chopra revealed his touching conversation with Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem.
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra scripted a stunning comeback in the men's javelin final on Sunday in Oregon to claim the silver medal in the World Athletics Championships final with a stunning throw of 88.13m in his fourth attempt. Chopra only became the second Indian athlete to claim a podium-finish at the Worlds after the legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George, who had finished with the bronze medal back in 2003 in Paris. Following the historic win, Chopra revealed his touching conversation with Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem.
The Pakistan athlete had finished fifth in the final after putting forth an impressive throw of 86.16m.
Speaking to the press after the final, Neeraj revealed that he congratulated Nadeem on his performance and his superb return from injury.
“I spoke to Arshad after the competition ended. I told him that he did very well. He replied that he had issues with his elbow. I further congratulated him for a great throw and it was a great comeback from his injury and it was commendable that he threw the javelin over 86 metres,” Neeraj said.
Back in 2018, during the Asian Games in Jakarta, a picture of Nadeem and Chopra had gone viral on social media where the two were seen greeting each other on the podium.
Nadeem had suffered an elbow injury before he headed into the Worlds and had mentioned before the start of the event that it had bothered him for a while.
“I am not thinking in terms of what target can there be right now. My goal is to do my best because I have my elbow injury. It is under control and we have Dr Ali Bajwa from the UK with us, so my focus is to have a good finish. The medal is certainly on my mind," Nadeem had told the Express Tribune.
