In the recently concluded Men’s Javelin Throw event, Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra was unable to defend his Olympic gold medal. Despite being India’s biggest medal hope, Chopra couldn’t match the incredible performance of Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem in the final.
At the start of the Olympics, Neeraj was expected to replicate his Tokyo success, standing out as a beacon of hope amidst India’s numerous bronze medals and 4th Place near-misses. However, with five foul throws, Neeraj’s chances of securing another gold dwindled. His second throw, a season-best of 89.45m, was promising but fell short as Arshad Nadeem unleashed a record-breaking performance.
Nadeem, after an initial foul throw, stunned the crowd with a casual yet powerful run-up and a throw that shattered the previous Olympic record. His monumental 92.97m throw broke the record of 90.57m by more than two meters, securing his place in history. To add to his remarkable feat, Nadeem crossed the 90m mark again with his final throw, reaching 91.79m. This victory marks Pakistan’s first Olympic medal in 32 years, a historic achievement after eight Olympic Games without a podium finish.
Neeraj Chopra’s Overconfidence came back to bite him
In the lead-up to the Paris Olympics 2024, Neeraj Chopra, the defending champion was struggling with a slight injury niggle in his adductor. Hence, he decided to be choosy as to which competitions he would be participating in, on his road to the Olympics. Most notably, he opted out of the Paris Diamond League in July citing fitness reasons.
The lack of time he spent on the big stage under the bright lights might’ve impacted his disappointing performance in the Olympic final. Because when the grandest stage came his way, he produced 5 foul throws, something not to be proud of. And Neeraj Chopra himself must be feeling that in a way he was lucky to pull off the 2nd round 89.45m throw which got him the Silver medal.
Moreover, in the qualification round, Neeraj opted to settle down with a single throw which was enough to get him into the final comfortably. But was that confidence justified? OR was that a little bit of cockiness on his part. Had he taken his remaining throws, would he have been in better form in the Final? That’s a lot of “What ifs” than there should be for an athlete representing his country at the Olympics.
Neeraj Chopra is yet to throw a 90m plus throw ever in his Career. Arshad Nadeem did it twice on the same night, breaking the Olympic record on both those attempts. Neeraj Chopra should now go back to the drawing board and await his chance to reclaim first place at the Olympics in 4 years.
A long time to retrospect on what went wrong. Each and every Indian would hope that Neeraj Chopra finally breaks his shackles and shows the world what he is made of. Who knows, maybe the “Golden Arm’s” best is yet to come!
