NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi dialled javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Friday, August 9, to congratulate him on his Olympic win.
Neeraj Chopra won India’s fifth medal, a silver, at the Olympic Games in Paris in javelin throw on Thursday, August 7.
PM Modi said, “Congratulations, you have made the country proud. Last night, even at 1 AM, millions of people were looking at you with hope.”
Neeraj was a little disappointed over his injury, which he believes prevented him from achieving what he had hoped for and cost him the gold medal.
Responding to that, PM Modi said, “You’ve played well even after the injury. Forget about the gold medal; you are our gold. Let’s detail your injury when we meet next time and discuss what we can do.”
PM Modi also lauded the sportsmanship shown by Neeraj’s mother, who said that Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, the gold medallist, was “like our son.”
Soon after Neeraj secured the silver medal, PM Modi posted on X, congratulating him at 1:30 AM, “Neeraj Chopra is excellence personified! Time and again he’s shown his brilliance. India is elated that he comes back with yet another Olympic success. Congratulations to him on winning the silver. He will continue to motivate countless upcoming athletes to pursue their dreams and make our nation proud.”
Neeraj Chopra is excellence personified! Time and again he’s shown his brilliance. India is elated that he comes back with yet another Olympic success. Congratulations to him on winning the Silver. He will continue to motivate countless upcoming athletes to pursue their dreams… pic.twitter.com/XIjfeDDSeb
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 8, 2024
Neeraj, who won gold at the previous Games in Tokyo in 2021, delivered an impressive 89.45m throw to come second. In the 2021 Olympics, Neeraj became only the second athlete from India to clinch gold in a non-team sport in the Olympics (after Abhinav Bindra at Beijing 2008).
PM Modi praised Neeraj’s performance throughout the tournament. In response, Neeraj assured the Prime Minister that he would put extra effort into the upcoming games.