Neeraj Chopra Settles for Silver in Men’s Javelin at Paris 2024 Olympics
Despite achieving the second-best throw of his career, Neeraj Chopra, the Tokyo 2020 champion, secured a silver medal in the men’s javelin throw at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Thursday.
Neeraj managed to land a single valid throw of 89.45m out of six attempts in the final, which was enough to place him second behind Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who set an Olympic record with a 92.97m throw to win the gold.
Reflecting on his performance, Neeraj expressed his disappointment: “It was a good throw, but I’m not very satisfied with my performance today. My technique and runway were not as good as I wanted them to be. I only had one successful throw; the rest were fouls.”
Neeraj, the reigning world and Asian Games champion, also highlighted that injuries in the run-up to Paris 2024 affected his ability to defend his title.
“The last two or three years have been challenging for me due to injuries. I’ve tried hard, but I need to focus on staying injury-free and improving my technique,” the 26-year-old stated.
Neeraj’s preparations were disrupted by issues with his adductor muscles, which led to him missing events like the Ostrava Golden Spike. He mentioned that these problems have been persistent for a few years and plans to consult doctors after the Paris 2024 campaign.
“In training, I haven’t been able to do many throws because of my groin injury, but I’ll work hard in the future,” he added.
Neeraj also took the time to congratulate his competitor and friend, Arshad Nadeem, saying, “Today’s competition was really great. Arshad Nadeem performed exceptionally well. Congratulations to him and his country.”
Nadeem’s gold was the first individual Olympic gold for Pakistan and the country’s first Olympic medal since 1992 in Barcelona.