In the heart of Panipat, Haryana, the air is filled with joy and pride as Neeraj Chopra, the nation’s celebrated javelin thrower, returns with yet another remarkable victory. . The Chopra family distributed sweets after Neeraj sealed the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. "He has given his best performance and won silver, adding one more medal to the country," Neeraj's grandfather Dharm Singh Chopra, said. Enhancing his season-best effort in the summit clash of the men's javelin throw event at the iconic Stade de France on Thursday, World Champion Neeraj claimed India's first silver medal in the 2024 edition of the Summer Games. Minutes after India's ‘Golden Boy’ scripted history at the grandest stage, Chopra's mother, Saroj Devi, revealed that her son braved an injury to secure a podium finish in Paris.
Neeraj's only successful throw at the Paris Games final earned India its fourth medal. Though Neeraj topped his qualification throw, the defending champion was upstaged by Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem in the final. Speaking to news agency ANI, Neeraj's mother said that she would cook Neeraj's favourite meal following the javelin star's arrival from the Olympics. "We are very happy. For us, silver is also equal to gold. The one who got the gold is also like our son. He was injured, so we are happy with his performance. I will cook his favourite food," she said.
Pakistan's Nadeem outclassed Neeraj to claim a historic gold medal for his country at the Paris Games. Nadeem fired a record-breaking throw of 92.97m to take the top podium spot in the men's javelin final. Nadeem toppled Andreas Thorkildsen's Olympic record (90.57m), which he created at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. While Nadeem bagged Pakistan's first Olympic medal in athletics, Grenada's Anderson Peters took home the bronze medal with his throw of 88.54.