‘First time I’ve lost to Arshad…’: Neeraj ‘won’t be at peace’ with silver

In just 10 seconds, Neeraj Chopra announced his supremacy as he roared into the final with a monster throw of 89.43m in his first attempt in the qualifiers earlier this week in the 2024 Paris Olympics. He obliterated the rest of the qualification field and took the top spot in the process, with what was both his season-best show and the second-best throw of his career. Neeraj was primed to successfully defend his crown in the men’s javelin final on Thursday. But India’s Golden Boy was stunned by an Olympic-record-breaking throw from Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem as Neeraj took the second spot on the podium. Albeit a historic silver, the 26-year-old admitted that he “won’t be at peace” unless he achieves greater highs than his Paris feat.
After a quiet first round of attempts from the competitors in the men’s javelin final, Nadeem hurled an astonishing 92.97m in his second attempt to set the bar too high for the rest of the field, which saw him break the Olympic record of 90.57m, owned by Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway in the 2008 Beijing Games.
Neeraj responded with a new season-best attempt of 89.45m in the second round, which was enough to push him to the second spot on the field. But he failed to eclipse Nadeem’s mark, who eventually ended the night with another gigantic 91.79m throw in his final attempt, which could have also seen him break the Olympic record.
Neeraj did not seem at his best in the final, where he managed just one legitimate throw and eventually conceded the crown to Nadeem, who became Pakistan’s first Olympic medal winner since Barcelona 1992.
Speaking to the media after the final, Neeraj congratulated his friend Nadeem, before admitting that it was his first-ever defeat to the Pakistani athlete in a javelin competition in the last eight years.
“I have been competing against Arshad since 2016, but this is the first time I have lost to him. But credit where credit is due, Arshad has worked really hard, and he was better than I was at night. Congratulations to him,” he said.
Although not the much-expected gold, Neeraj carved a piece of history with India’s first silver medal at the Paris Olympics. He became only the fifth athlete to win two medals at the Games after Norman Pritchard, Sushil Kumar, PV Sindhu and Manu Bhaker. He is also the third athlete besides Sushil and Sindhu to win medals at two separate Summer Games and the first to claim back-to-back medals in a track and field event at the Games.
Neeraj also revealed what led to five of the six foul throws in the final was the concern about aggravating his adductor niggle. However, he vowed to come back bigger and stronger.
“Whenever I throw, 60-70 percent focus is on injury. My runway was not good today, my speed was also low. Whatever I have done, I have done with this issue. I didn’t have time for surgery. I was just pushing myself,” he said. “There is a lot left in me. I have to do that. I have that feeling that I can do it. Unless I achieve that, I won’t be at peace.”