"I Never Thought...": Neeraj Chopra On Arshad Nadeem's Olympic Record Throw That Earned Pakistan Star Gold

Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who won the silver medal at the Paris Olympics, said he couldn't push himself to his extreme. Chopra fell short of retaining his gold medal in the men's javelin throw at the recent-concluded marquee event securing silver with a best throw of 89.45 meters. Speaking at a virtual press briefing, Neeraj said that mentally he was ready but lacked in the physical area. The 26-year-old accepted that his legwork was not how it should have ben during the final.

"I never thought I couldn't do it... Arshad Nadeem's previous best was at 90.18 metres which he threw at the Commonwealth Games, and my previous best was 89.94 metres... I couldn't push myself to my extreme. Mentally I was ready but physically, I was retraining myself. My legwork on the runway was not how it should have been. My efforts were going in vain. My throw immediately after Nadeem's throw was good because I was extremely positive...," Neeraj said.

Neeraj also revealed his next competition and said that he will participate in the Lausanne Diamond League, which will kick off on August 22.

"... I have finally decided to participate in the Lausanne Diamond League, which begins August 22," he added.

Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won gold with a throw of 92.97 meters, setting a new Olympic record and surpassing Denmark's Andreas Thorkildsen's mark from Beijing 2008. Grenada's Anderson Peters secured bronze with a throw of 88.54 meters.

Earlier, Chopra had achieved a throw of 89.34 meters in the Group B qualification round, his second-best all-time throw. Despite a competitive rivalry with Nadeem, where Chopra led 9-0 in their head-to-head matchups, Nadeem's throw of 90.18 meters at the 2022 Commonwealth Games exceeded Chopra's top effort.

Following the failure to defend his gold medal, Neeraj expressed dissatisfaction with his performance and revealed that the last two to three years were not good for him in terms of fitness.

"It was a good throw but I am not that happy with my performance today. My technique and runway was not that good. (I managed) only one throw, the rest I fouled," Neeraj said according to Olympics.com.

"(For my) second throw I believed to think I can also throw that far. But in javelin, if your run is not so good, you cannot throw very far," added Neeraj.

The Indian ace javelin thrower, who also is the current Asian Games champion, said that injuries leading to his title defence in Paris made some difference and he will have to work on being injury-free and on his technique.

"The last two or three years were not so good for me. I am always injured. I really tried hard, but I have to work on my injury (staying injury-free) and technique," the 26-year-old added.

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