BUDAPEST, Aug 28: Neeraj Chopra has arguably become India’s greatest sportsperson of all time but the slightest reference makes the newly-crowned World Champion uncomfortable.
Chopra, who is known for his humility besides his world conquering skills with javelin, won the coveted world title with a solid throw of 88.17m in Budapest on Sunday night.
He is also the first track and field athlete from India to win an Olympic gold.
There is no doubt over who is the all-time greatest Indian track and field athlete but the ever modest Chopra doesn’t want to get involved in that debate. “I will never say this, the greatest of all time. People say that just the world Championships gold is missing. I won it now but I have many things left to do and I will focus on that. I would not like to say this (greatest of all time).
“If you want to say greatest of all time, it would have to be like Jan Zelezny,” he said in the context of world record holder in javelin.
Zelezny is the legendary Czech Republic javelin thrower, who holds the world record of 98.48m and won three Olympic and three World Championships gold. He is also Chopra’s idol.
World C’ships tougher than Olympics
The 25-year-old also finds the World Championships tougher than the Olympics.
“Olympics was very special and World Championships is a big title. If you talk competition-wise, World Championships is always tougher than Olympics. All the athletes come prepared for this.
“Many people came from India here and local public support was also great. Thus win is special.” He also praised his teammates Kishore Kumar Jena and DP Manu, both of whom finished in the top eight.
“Kishore Jena and DP Manu also did very well (finished fifth and sixth). Our athletics is growing. But we have to do a lot of work also. I spoke to Adille sir (AFI president) about the Mondo tracks here and hoping that we will also have this in India just like here. We will do even better in coming years,” Chopra added.
Record three Indians in top six
The Neeraj Chopra-inspired javelin revolution is headed in the right direction with three Indians finishing in top six of the World Championships final, unprecedented in the tournament’s history.
Javelin powerhouse Germany has had three of its competitors finishing in top eight on four occasions- 1995, 2003, 2015, 2017- since the World Championships began in 1983 but never had three participants from a country ended in top six of the final.
In Budapest on Sunday, Chopra added a World Championships gold to his historic Tokyo Olympics yellow metal, while Kishore Jena and DP Manu finished fifth and sixth respectively.
It was Jena and Manu’s debut World Championships while Chopra has won a silver in the 2022 edition.
In fact, India were to have four entries as Chopra got wild card as Diamond League champion. But Rohit Yadav had to pull out of the showpiece due to an elbow surgery on his throwing arm.
Only powerhouses like Germany, USA and Finland had their three athletes in the final in the past.
‘Dominating a sport once dominated by Europeans’
In Arshad Nadeem, India’s Neeraj Chopra will have tough competition for the gold medal at Paris Olympics, but the Pakistani ace says for now both are just “very happy” to call the shots in a sport once dominated by the Europeans.
In cricket-crazy Pakistan, Nadeem has become the toast of the nation after becoming its first athlete to win a medal at the World Athletics Championship.
Nadeem bagged silver in the men’s javelin thrown final in Budapest on Sunday, as Olympic champion Chopra won the gold medal.
“Neeraj and I have a very healthy competition and we respect each other a lot. There is no Pakistan-India rivalry in a bad way. When we talk we are just happy that both of us have come to the fore in a competition usually dominated by Europeans,” Nadeem said.It is not the first medal that Nadeem has brought home as last year he won gold in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games with a best throw of 90.18 metres.
According to Nadeem, the silver medal at the Worlds was very satisfying as he competed against Chopra, one of the best in recent years.
Chopra couldn’t compete in the Commonwealth Games because of a groin injury and Arshad ran away with the gold in a field dominated by European athletes.
After the final on Sunday, Chopra made it a point to invite his Pakistani rival to go on a victory lap.
“It is a very satisfying achievement for me to get a distance of 87.82 metres as I returned to international competition after nearly a year due to my elbow surgery,” he said.
The rivalry between Chopra and Nadeem has now become a subject of discussion in the javelin fraternity. What was unique on Sunday was that the first time both Pakistani and Indian athletes were in the limelight at the same time.
Soon after Nadeem won the silver medal, there were calls on social media in Pakistan to ensure he is duly rewarded for his achievement, with the caretaker Prime Minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq-Kakar, being the first to congratulate him on his success. (PTI)
