Paris Olympics 2024: Pain after silver gain!

Neeraj Chopra during the javelin throw final in Paris on Thursday. Pic/Getty Image

India's javelin throw superstar Neeraj Chopra failed to defend his Olympic title here on Thursday night, finishing with a silver medal throw of 89.45m in the final. Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem broke the Olympic record with a throw of 92.79 to clinch the gold, while Grenada's Anderson Peters (88.54m) took bronze.

World champion Neeraj opened up about his injury woes, revealing that he might have to undergo a surgery soon after having pushed himself extremely hard to compete.

Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem exults on Thursday. Pic/PTI

Neeraj was dealing with a nagging adductor niggle (a problem related to muscles in the thigh) in the run up to the Paris Games, but managed a season's best effort for the silver, making him India's first track-and-field athlete to have two Olympic medals, the first being an unprecedented gold in Tokyo.

"I had a lot on my mind. When I was throwing, 60-70 per cent as my focus was on the injury. I didn't want to get injured. Whenever I went for a throw, you could see that my speed was low. I was pushing myself. The doctor has told me to go in for surgery, but I didn't have the time to take that decision before and after the World Championships because it takes a lot of time to prepare for the Olympics," said Neeraj, 26, adding that he's been pushing himself which is not a good thing to do. "I'm still pushing myself. It's not good in sport to push and continue. If you want to run a long career, you have to be fit and healthy, but there are competitions where you can't make a decision. I felt this [adductor issue] in 2017. After that, I got a lot of treatments, but now I'll have to take a big decision on this [surgery]," added Neeraj.

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Meanwhile, history-making Nadeem said he was happy that his rivalry with India's Neeraj is being talked about like the cricketing battles between the two feuding neighbours. "The rivalry is there when it comes to cricket matches and other sports, but at the same time, it's a good thing for youngsters in both countries, who are pursuing a sport, to follow us bring laurels to their countries," said Nadeem, 27, after becoming the first Pakistani to clinch an individual Olympic gold medal.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Friday announced a cash award of rupees 10 crore for Nadeem. Similarly, the Pakistan Peoples Party's Sindh government announced rupees 5 crore, while the Sukkur city mayor also announced a ‘gold crown' for him.

89.45m
Neeraj Chopra's throw that earned him silver

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