Neeraj Chopra isn't satisfied with historic World Championships gold: 'Want to repeat this success year after year'

Neeraj Chopra created yet another history on Sunday as he became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships. Olympic champion Neeraj achieved the feat in the men’s javelin throw final event in Budapest with an 88.17m throw. Last year Neeraj had scripted history by winning silver at the Worlds in Oregon with an 88.13m throw. With the silver medal last year, the 25-year-old had become only the second Indian and first male track and field athlete to win a medal in the World Championships. Read: Neeraj creates history in Budapest by winning India’s maiden World Championships gold medal At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Neeraj became the first Indian to win an athletics medal by clinching gold with an 87.58m throw. He is the second Indian to win an individual gold in the Olympics. At Budapest, Neeraj opened with a 79m throw but later stepped over the line to force a foul and did not register the throw. In his second attempt, the athlete from Haryana registered a history-making throw of 88.17m throw.

Despite making history again, Neeraj isn’t satisfied and wants to achieve more. “I still have a lot to achieve. It’s not as if I have won all these medals so I’ll rest easy. I want to repeat this success year after year. I also want more Indians to join me on the podium. That will be fun,” Neeraj said after winning World Athletics Championships gold. “I am a thrower and we throwers don’t have a finish line. So, I’ll keep going. Motivation has never been a problem for me. There is always room for improvement. My throwing can definitely get better. I wanted to give my all today too but the adductor strain was also playing on my mind,” he added. Also Read | ‘Gold for our diamond’, netizens hail Neeraj Chopra’s historic feat in Budapest With Worlds gold, Neeraj has now completed the full set of winning Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Olympics, Diamond League, and World Athletics titles. He is also considered the greatest Indian athlete ever for conquering all the major titles. Abhinav Bindra won India’s first individual Olympic gold in 2008, in shooting, but never won an Asian Games gold. Wrestler Sushil Kumar won silver and bronze at the Olympics and gold at the World Championships. Neeraj may already be the GOAT (greatest of all time) for most of the Indians, but he doesn’t think he is “there yet”. “It feels nice to win all these medals. The competition at the World Championships can be tougher than the Olympics and you can’t take any competitor lightly. European throwers can come up with a winning throw anytime. As far as the GOAT athlete is concerned, I don’t think I am there yet. I am not even the greatest in my sport, I think Jan Zelezny is the greatest javelin thrower of all time,” Neeraj said. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem won the silver on Sunday with a throw of 87.82m and Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch took the bronze in 86.67m.

#NeerajChopra wins 🤩 the first 🥇for India at the #WorldAthleticsChampionships 🏆#WAConJioCinema pic.twitter.com/Xg02pb7xKt

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Talking about the competition, Chopra said: “When the competitors start doing well, you feel some pressure. You know you have to put a big throw in. I was prepared to bring out my best throw on my last attempt. I have a very strong belief that if needed, I can do that. I train for it.” “I like to get a big throw early in the competition, but sometimes it may not happen depending on how the body is feeling or the conditions. Both in Bhubaneswar and Eugene, my medal throws arrived quite late. Ultimately, it all comes down to belief,” he said. On his rivalry with Arshad Nadeem Whenever Neeraj is up against Nadeem, the competition is dubbed as an India vs Pakistan contest but for Chopra there’s no rivalry. “People make it to be a rivalry but there is no bad blood between us. Even today, he came up to me and we congratulated each other. It was nice to have two Asians on the podium. It felt nice that he threw well today. There is always that India-Pak pressure and I am sure that will be amplified at the Asian Games. If you can deal with that pressure, you can deal with the Olympics pressure,” he said. On Kishore and Manu Apart from Neeraj, there were two other Indians in the javelin final and all three of them finished in the top six - a first for the nation. Kishore Kumar Jena registered a personal best of 84.77m throw to finish fifth, while DP Manu recorded 84.14m to take the sixth spot. Neeraj was very impressed with his compatriots and added that more is still to come from Kishore and Manu. “I’m very happy for Kishore, who did really well and registered a personal best. Manu also threw well. We’ve set a very good mark - to have three Indians in the final and finish in the top 8. Their confidence will increase going forward. It’s good that Kishore claimed a personal best in such a big event. I feel you will see a lot more in the future,” Chopra said. On breaking the 90m mark Neeraj has won the Olympics and Worlds gold medals but he still hasn’t breached the 90m mark. The star athlete said that injuries have restricted his throwing but he isn’t bothered about it anymore. “I was shaping up to get there early this year but the muscle strain meant I needed to be cautious and avoid injuries. I have been throwing 88m since 2018 so a 90m throw may come anytime. There was a time when I would think about it, but not anymore. I have left it to time and destiny. For me, winning medals is more important than hitting 90m,” he said.