“Happy that both our countries are making serious strides” – Neeraj Chopra on podium finish with Arshad Nadeem in World Athletics Championships

Neeraj Chopra is happy that both India and Pakistan are making a mark for themselves in the world of athletics. In the World Athletics Championship 2023 javelin throw final, Chopra bagged the gold medal while his Asian counterpart from Pakistan, Arshad Nadeem, won silver.

Chopra, who finished on top with a stunning throw of 88.17 metres, said that beating the European participants in the javelin final was not a cakewalk by any means.

"I met Arshad [Nadeem] after the event and we were happy that both our countries are making serious strides in the sporting arena. We were also happy to have prevailed over our European counterparts, who are stronger and very competitive,” Neeraj was quoted as saying in the post-match press conference.

Nadeem was not far behind from Neeraj after he finished with his season best throw of 87.82 metres in Budapest.

Chopra also looked forward to meeting Nadeem in the Asian Games 2023 to be held from September 23 to October 8 in Hangzhou.

“The rivalry between our two nations in sports will always be there. I feel the win here will raise the expectations of fans going into the Asian Games. We will meet again in Hangzhou," he stated.

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I wanted to throw more than 90 metres: Neeraj Chopra

Despite finishing on top of the podium, Chopra was a tad disappointed after not being able to throw in excess of 90 metres.

“I wanted to throw more than 90m tonight. But it needs all parts of the puzzle to be there. I couldn’t put it all together this evening. Maybe next time,” Neeraj added.

Earlier, the legendary Anju Bobby George had said that Chopra would be deemed as India’s greatest athlete if he won gold and the latter didn’t disappoint.