Neeraj Chopra’s Rare Moment of Anger During Javelin Final: ‘When Arshad Threw 92.97m, I Believed…’
Concerns about his injury left Neeraj Chopra managing just one legitimate throw in the javelin final and the frustration was evident.
Neeraj Chopra signed off Thursday night with a piece of history at the Paris Olympics 2024, but the night never belonged to India’s Golden Boy. He was primed to go for a second consecutive gold in men’s javelin, a feat witnessed only four times in the Games’ history, with Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen being the last to achieve the feat at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. However, concerns about his groin injury left the 26-year-old managing just one legitimate throw. And the frustration was evident, especially in that one rare moment of anger following his penultimate attempt.
Neeraj, who hurled both a season-best and second-best-career-attempt of 89.43m in the qualification round earlier this week to take the top spot in the field, started his campaign with a foul throw. However, after Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem set the bar high on his second throw with an Olympic-record-breaking figure of 92.97m, Neeraj responded with his only legitimate attempt in the final, a new season-best of 89.45m, which was enough to push him to the second spot in the table.
World Champion looked desperate in his subsequent attempts to breach the 90m mark for the first time in his career and threaten Nadeem in a top-of-the-table clash. But much to his dismay, or rather frustration, Neeraj’s body kept going beyond the throwing arc, resulting in the line umpire raising the red flag on five of his six attempts. During his penultimate throw, Neeraj lost his cool after his leg crossed the line and he screamed twice in anger.
Speaking to the media after the competition, Neeraj admitted that he could see himself going for the much-eluded 90m-throw, but failed to convert it into reality owing to his injury concern.
“It was because of an injury (groin strain). I wanted to express myself and throw. It was not happening. It was the Olympic stage. But, the throw was still good. I managed only one legal throw. All others were foul. When Arshad threw 92.97m, I believed in my mind that I would be able to do it (90m) today. It didn’t happen today. Let’s see when it will happen. But the competition was very intense and exciting. Winning a medal for my country makes me happy,” he said.
Neeraj became India’s first track-and-field athlete to win back-to-back medals at the Olympics, third overall and fifth to have two medals at the Games after Norman Pritchard, Sushil Kumar, PV Sindhu and Manu Bhaker.
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