'Extremely disappointed': Neeraj Chopra over remarks on Pakistani javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem
Neeraj Chopra, India's only gold medal winner in Tokyo Olympics 2020, has said he is "extremely disappointed at the reactions" to his comments in an interview.
Chopra had revealed in the interview that he had taken his first throw hurriedly after a delay as he couldn't locate his javelin, which he spotted in the hands of Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem.
He said there was nothing wrong in Nadeem taking his javelin and everything happened during the final event according to the rules and there wasn't a need to make it a big issue.
"I would request everyone to please not use me and my comments as a medium to further your vested interests and propaganda. Sports teaches us to be together and united. I'm extremely disappointed to see some of the reactions from the public on my recent comments," tweeted the Tokyo Olympics gold medal winner.
"A big issue has been made over my remarks in an interview. All the personal javelins are kept in one place, where any thrower can use it, this is the rule. There was nothing wrong with him (Arshad Nadeem) taking my javelin and preparing for his throw. Before my throw, I asked him for it. I'm sad that a big issue is being made out of my comments. I request everyone not to do this," Neeraj said in the video.
I would request everyone to please not use me and my comments as a medium to further your vested interests and propaganda.
— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) August 26, 2021
Sports teaches us to be together and united. I'm extremely disappointed to see some of the reactions from the public on my recent comments.
Earlier, in an interview to The Times of India, Neeraj said "I was searching for my javelin at the start of the final (in Olympics). I was not able to find it. Suddenly, I saw Arshad Nadeem was moving around with my javelin. Then I told him, 'Bhai give this javelin to me, it is my javelin! I have to throw with it'. He gave it back to me. That's why you must have seen I took my first throw hurriedly."
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.