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Life hasn't been that easy for Neeraj Chopra. While everyone has been running after him ever since he bagged the historic Gold medal at Tokyo 2020, he hasn't been able to eat, sleep or for that matter train properly since returning from the Japanese capital. Looking back on August 7, which will now be observed as the National Javelin Throw Day in India, the 23-year-old recalls that he was not able to find his javelin before the start of the final.
The Haryana athlete said that not too long before his first throw, he saw Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem who was also set to throw in the event, moving around with it. That is when he told him to return it since he needed to throw with and he was the number 2 on the list of throwers.
"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 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," he told the Times of India.
Training stopped because of incessant functions, can't participate in Diamond League now: Neeraj
Meanwhile, Neeraj stressed the fact that the country cannot be satisfied with just one gold medal. He said that India should look at the sport from a global perspective. He reflected how he had planned to participate in Diamond League but his training stopped completely after returning from Tokyo 2020 because of continuous functions one after the other. He added that these things need to stop in the country.
"There is a Diamond League at the end of this month, I had planned to participate in it, but my training stopped completely once I returned from the Olympic Games because of the incessant number of functions. I also fell sick," he said during the same interview.
"These things need to change in Indian sport. All other Olympic champions are participating in the Diamond League. Their season is continuing," he added.