By Gurmeet Raj Batra
Gurugram (Haryana) [India], October 12 : Neeraj Chopra, the reigning Olympic, World, and Asian champion in men's javelin, expressed his confusion over his initial throw not being measured but maintained his belief that he would deliver a strong performance.
Neeraj secured his gold medal in the 19th Asian Games with a throw of 88.88 meters, dominating other athletes. His compatriot Kishore Jena,hailing from Odisha, came closest to challenging Neeraj, achieving a personal best throw of 87.54 meters in the men's javelin throw final event, nearly matching Neeraj's season-best of 88.88 meters.
Neeraj's entry into the Hangzhou Olympic Stadium was met with enthusiastic applause from fans, and he impressively exceeded the 85m mark in his first attempt. Unfortunately, a bizarre 15-minute delay and extensive discussions resulted in the voiding of his throw. Despite an early setback due to technical difficulties, reigning world champion Neeraj successfully defended his title.
"I felt a little bad that such a good throw got completely spoiled. But I had a belief that I would take a good throw. It seemed as if we both were performing there. Jena delivered his personal best and qualified for the Paris Olympics. Two India were on the podium with gold and silver medals. When the National Anthem was played it felt fantastic," Neeraj told ANI.
World Champion Neeraj said he had to overcome a lot of injuries to defend his Asian Games title and his entire focus was on the World Athletics Championship where he bagged a gold medal, becoming the first Indian to do so. The athlete said that his goal going into the Paris Olympics was to remain injury-free.
"A lot of difficulties happened due to injury and I skipped 2-3 competitions in the beginning. My entire focus was on the World Championship so I took some time...Then I thought that the throw in the final round would be as good as it was in the qualification round but it didn't turn out like that...but the way I won gold for the first time in the World Championship, that felt nice...Then in the Asian Games, defending the title went well with a good throw...," Neeraj Chopra told ANI.
The Indian athlete said that training is his first priority and he never compromises with his training.
"My training and my sports are my first priority. I have given maximum time to my training. Earlier I had given most of my time to my training and even now I have given most of my time to sports. We are players so training is most important for us. I have given full attention to my training and have not made compromises. As long as I keep playing, I will keep doing this. I have always learned one thing from home and my own journey, talk to people with respect."
Talking about becoming New Laureus Ambassador Neeraj Chopra, said, "It's a big honour for me to join Laureus as an Ambassador. To use my platform and the power of sport to help young people in India and around the world is something I am looking forward to doing. To see the many legends that have been a part of this program and the difference they have made in the world is inspiring, and I share the same belief; that sport has the power to change the world."
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