Neeraj Chopra said on missing out on gold in Diamond League, ‘I will try to retain the Olympic gold medal in Paris’

Superstar javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Friday said he will do everything possible to retain his Olympic gold medal in Paris next year and his World Championship title in 2025.

The 25-year-old Chopra on Sunday became only the third javelin thrower in history to win both the Olympic and World Championship titles after winning the world title in Budapest. Asked if he can match the feat of Czech great Jan Zelezny, who has three Olympic and three World Championship titles to his credit. To this, Chopra said, “If I stay motivated and focus on my game, everything is possible. ,

“My aim is to repeat my title and I will do whatever hard work I need to do for that. Before Chopra, Zelejny and Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway had won back-to-back Olympic and World Championship titles. Zelezny also idolises the Indian superstar who won Olympic gold in 1992, 1996 and 2000 and world championship titles in 1993, 1995 and 2001. Thorkildsson won gold medals at the 2008 Olympics and 2009 World Championships.

Chopra, however, admitted that defending the gold medal at the Paris Olympics next year would be a big challenge. “Winning the first Olympic title in Tokyo was a big challenge and defending it now will be an even bigger challenge as again every athlete will come fully prepared. There will be more pressure than the Tokyo Olympics because there will be more expectations than ever and even I have expectations from myself. ,

Chopra said, “But the most important thing for me will be to save myself from injury. I have to stay healthy and injury free so that I can win all my titles again. Chopra, who finished second at the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday, said he had a cough and sore throat ahead of the World Championships. He said, “I did not want to say this earlier because people could take it as an excuse. But before the qualification round, I had cough and sore throat. I was having trouble. He said, “I am having problems in Zurich as well. I’ll be fine, such is the life of an athlete.

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