‘There will be India vs Pakistan comparisons’ – Neeraj Chopra speaks about India vs Pakistan pressure after winning gold at World Athletics Championship 2023
Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem (Source: Twitter)
Star Indian athlete and javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra completed his set of gold medals with a special win at the World Athletics Championship 2023. In the men’s javelin throw event finals, Chopra threw his javelin directly at Gold. With a massive throw of 88.17 metres, Chopra won the gold medal and completed his set of gold.
As his career completed a full circle with his victory in Budapest, Chopra now eyes the upcoming Asian Games and Paris Olympics in 2024. Ahead of the tournament, there is buzz that India’s Chopra will receive tight competition from Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem. Nadeem finished second in the World Athletics Championship and beat Chopra at last year’s Commonwealth Games.
This creates immense pressure on both players due to the political and cultural histories of both countries. However, Chopra thinks differently. He says that he doesn’t use his phone often before tournaments to keep him in the correct state of mind. He also said that there is more competition from European players, and he can’t think of only one.
“I don’t use my mobile much before the competition, but today I looked at it, and the first thing was India versus Pakistan. But if you see, European athletes are very dangerous, and at any time they can produce a big throw. Not just Arshad, there is Jakub and Julian Webber. So until the last throw, you have to keep thinking about other throwers. But the thing is, there will be India vs. Pakistan comparisons back home,” Chopra told reporters after the event in Budapest.
“There will be more talk about it”, says Neeraj Chopra
Further speaking about the pressure of India vs. Pakistan during the Asian Games, Chopra said that he will try to be relaxed and fit. “I feel at the Asian Games there will be more talk about India versus Pakistan, but I am just going to stay relaxed and healthy”, he says. Neeraj further praised Arshad for his amazing performance.
He said, “I felt good that Arshad threw well, and we discussed how both our countries are growing now. Earlier there were European athletes, but now we have reached their level. Notably, earlier, Arshad had said that he was happy that India and Pakistan finished first and second on the podium, and he will hope that in Paris these two nations stay in the top 2.
