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Pressure from family and friends for a medal is gone, I will now compete freely: Rohit Yadav
Rohit Yadav is a relieved man after ending years of pressure with an Asian Games bronze.
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Rohit Yadav is a relieved man after ending years of pressure with an Asian Games bronze in javelin throw, a medal he believes will allow him to compete with a freer mind.
The 25-year-old Rohit won a bronze with a throw of 84.35m at the rain-soaked Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on Monday. Sri Lankan star Rumesh Pathirage took the gold with 88.55m, while another Indian Yashvir Singh clinched the silver with 85.72m.
"I have not won any medal in a major championships earlier. This is my first medal in a major international competition. I am very happy, I have opened my account," Rohit, who has a personal best of 87.68m, said after winning the medal.
"I come from a family which has no environment for sports. So, they will say 'You have been working so hard for so many years and you have no medal, what do you have'.
"The pressure I had from the family and friends, it has now gone after this medal. I have been under a lot of pressure for so many years. I don't know why I kept on missing big medals. But with this Asian Games medal, I will play without any pressure. I will play freely."
Even after winning gold at the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar in June with a creditable 87.05m effort, Rohit had expressed frustration over his inability to produce big throws consistently, a shortcoming that had cost him medals at major events.
He finished seventh in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games with a mediocre effort of 81.56m before bouncing back to win title in the World Athletics Silver Level Continental Tour event with an effort of 87.68m.
"It was a world-class field, but in my last competition in India, I threw 87.68, which was a world-class throw. I am OK. I got the medal, but I am not very happy because I could not produce my best. My throw was not at the level I expected.
"Next year I'm targeting 88m, 89m, 90m plus. I will try next year for Diamond League, Asian Championship and World Championship in China. This year is OK, two times I threw 87m-plus.
"I hope to change the colour of the medal in future."
On the slippery conditions due to rain, he said, "The cross stepping was getting longer, so could have strong blocking. That was why I was not getting the best release . But the conditions were the same for everybody. So, it is not an excuse."
Asked whom he would dedicate his medal to, Rohit said, "I dedicate this medal to my father. My father has seen a lot of struggle. When I came here, I called him. He told me to play the way I like. I said, I will try to give my best.
"I couldn't produce a big throw. But I will tell him that I have won a medal. He will be very happy."
