WATCH: PM Narendra Modi dials Neeraj Chopra, hails sportsman spirit of Olympian’s Mother Saroj Devi
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Neeraj Chopra to congratulate him on securing a silver medal in the men’s javelin throw event at the Paris 2024 Olympics on August 8. Neeraj’s silver marks India’s fifth medal in the tournament.
The prime minister also asked about Chopra’s injury and lauded the sportsman spirit shown by his mother, who said that Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who won gold medal, is like her son.
#WATCH | PM Narendra Modi spoke to Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and congratulated him on the Silver medal. He also enquired about his injury and lauded the sportsman spirit shown by his mother.#Paris2024 #Paris2024Olympic pic.twitter.com/DvVEMcNbPQ
— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2024
“We are very happy. For us, silver is also equal to gold. The one who got the gold (Nadeem) is also like our son,” Saroj Devi had told news agency ANI.
In Thursday’s final, Neeraj Chopra, who won gold at the previous Tokyo Games in 2021 and became only the second Indian athlete to clinch gold in a non-team sport at the Olympics (following Abhinav Bindra in 2008), delivered an impressive 89.45m throw to secure second place. Arshad Nadeem claimed victory with a 92.97m throw, while Anderson Peters from Grenada completed the podium with a throw of 88.54m.
“Neeraj Chopra is excellence personified! Time and again he’s shown his brilliance. India is elated that he comes back with yet another Olympic success. Congratulations to him on winning the Silver. He will continue to motivate countless upcoming athletes to pursue their dreams and make our nation proud!” the PM had posted on X (formerly Twitter) last night.
Neeraj Chopra is excellence personified! Time and again he’s shown his brilliance. India is elated that he comes back with yet another Olympic success. Congratulations to him on winning the Silver. He will continue to motivate countless upcoming athletes to pursue their dreams… pic.twitter.com/XIjfeDDSeb
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 8, 2024
Neeraj Chopra’s silver in javelin is India’s best performance at the current Games, with the four bronze medals coming from shooting (Manu Bhaker, Manu Bhaker-Sarabjot Singh, and Swapnil Kusale) and men’s hockey. Wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who could have secured at least a silver, was disqualified for being overweight before her final bout. Phogat has since appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to be co-awarded the silver medal.