Will never say I am the greatest Indian athlete of all time: Chopra

He is now only the second Indian after legendary shooter Abhinav Bindra to simultaneously hold the Olympics and World Championships title

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India's Neeraj Chopra reacts during the men's javelin throw final. — Reuters

By PTI

Published: Mon 28 Aug 2023, 7:28 PM

Last updated: Mon 28 Aug 2023, 7:29 PM

For someone who was cajoled into taking up sport to shed weight, Neeraj Chopra's rise to stardom from a Haryana village has been nothing short of spectacular.

Two years ago, his spear soared high into the Tokyo sky as he became India's first Olympics track and field gold medal winner.

With a solid throw of 88.17m earning him a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Sunday, the legend of Chopra continues to grow.

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He is now only the second Indian after legendary shooter Abhinav Bindra to simultaneously hold the Olympics and World Championships title.

Bindra won the World Championships title when he was 23, and the Olympics gold at 25.

With age on his side, Chopra is bound to achieve more success if he stays fit. He will have two Olympics and two World Championships before he turns 30.

All these achievements have already made the 25-year-old Chopra arguably India's greatest sportsperson of all time.

But this debate makes the newly-crowned World Champion uncomfortable.

Chopra, who is known for his humility besides his world conquering skills with javelin, doesn't want to get involved in that debate.

"I will never say this, the greatest of all time. People say that just the world Championships gold is missing. I won it now but I have many things left to do and I will focus on that. I would not like to say this (greatest of all time)," he said.

"If you want to say greatest of all time, it would have to be like Jan Zelezny," he said in the context of world record holder in javelin.

Zelezny is the legendary Czech Republic javelin thrower, who holds the world record of 98.48m and won three Olympic and three World Championships gold medals. He is also Chopra's idol.

The 25-year-old also finds the World Championships tougher than the Olympics.

"Olympics was very special and World Championships is a big title. If you talk competition-wise, World Championships is always tougher than Olympics. All the athletes come prepared for this," he said.

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PTI

Published: Mon 28 Aug 2023, 7:28 PM

Last updated: Mon 28 Aug 2023, 7:29 PM

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