New Delhi, Aug 9: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday congratulated Indian javelin superstar Neeraj Chopra for winning his second Olympic medal despite battling an injury, and said his mother's gracious remarks about Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem reflects the spirit of a sports family.
Neeraj Chopra's mother, Saroj Devi, expressed happiness for Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who broke the Olympic record to surpass the Indian defending champion in Paris, saying “he is also like her child”.
“The interview given by your mother reflects the spirit of a sports family. She said, ‘he (Nadeem) is also my son,' in such a good way,” the prime minister said during a phone conversation with Chopra.
He asked the Indian athlete not to dwell on missing the gold medal and said very few athletes have the distinction of winning two Olympic medals. You are gold yourself.”
Chopra told Modi he could not “push for gold” due to the injury. “But I am happy at winning the silver medal despite the injury and the tough competition.”
“You have achieved this feat despite your injury, which is incredible. It will surprise our younger generation. This spirit of doing something for the country drives us,” Modi said.
He told the Indian athlete that he would like to discuss his injury in detail to explore how best it can be managed moving forward.
“I remember you praised your competitor's performance last time. You had mentioned that he gives fierce competition,” Modi said about Nadeem.
Chopra assured the prime minister that he would continue to work hard and aim to do better in upcoming sporting events.
On Thursday, Chopra clinched the silver medal at the Paris Games with a season's best throw of 89.45m, after Nadeem pulled off a record-breaking effort of 92.97m on Thursday night.
With this silver, Chopra became only the third Indian, and the first in track-and-field, to win back-to-back individual Olympic medals.
Besides, Rajkumar Chahar and Janardan Singh Sigriwal of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), V K Sreekandan of the Congress and D M Kathir Anand of the DMK, among others, also introduced private members' bills.
