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"Want to see more Indians on international level," Neeraj Chopra emphasises on global exposure

"I will focus on the upcoming World Championships next year and Asian Game," says Olympic Champion Neeraj Chopra.

Want to see more Indians on international level, Neeraj Chopra emphasises on global exposure
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The Bridge Desk

Updated: 9 Sep 2022 11:47 AM GMT

Olympic Champion Neeraj Chopra created history with a Diamond League trophy and ended his season with a World Championship silver medal and a Diamond League win.

Talking to the media after his recent triumph, Neeraj emphasized on the need for more international exposure, "I have one request and that is to bring more global exposure to Indian athletes. Indian athletes participated in a lot of different domestic events but it feels weird that I am the only one participating here."

"More participation at the international level will help everyone gain exposure and experience to compete at the top. In upcoming years, we will definitely have multiple champions at the international level," said Neeraj.

On his participation in upcoming national games, Neeraj said, "I think it is time to rest now. I am coming from a groin injury and I don't think my training will continue for the next few weeks. I am looking at the next year now where we have World Championships and Asian Games."

Neeraj Chopra threw 88.44m at the Diamond League finale to become the first-ever Indian to win a Diamond and has all the major athletics laurels in his kitty.

Talking about his foul start at Zurich, Chopra explained, "I lost the grip in the first throw but I knew I'll throw better as my warmup throws were going much better. I was certainly not happy with 88.44m and I tried to better it but being the last event of the season everyone was tired too."

Neeraj Chopra has a personal best of 89.94m right now which is the national record and he is hovering around the mark of 90m. "I am not at all disappointed for not crossing the 90m mark. It is just a magical number if you ask me cause there is no value of a 90m throw if you don't win. More than the distance, the position matters in athletics. I always wanted to win at the Diamond League given it is an elite competition and I'm happy that I was consistent this season," Neeraj said.

"The mentality is changing. Now we go to win at the international level and the community respects us. I am happy that we are having indoor stadiums and more tracks now for the athletes," Neeraj said about the rising global footprint of Indian athletics."

"I am not the greatest, there have been many legends before me, people do have their opinion but I don't think it is justified that I see myself as the greatest," clarified Neeraj on the debate of him being the greatest ever athlete.

AFI Adille Sumarwalla addressed the media and expressed his delight in India's recent growth in Athletics, "I am proud of how Neeraj has performed and his performance inspired our athletes. We are growing in World Athletics and the performance at the Commonwealth Games 2022 was a testament. Neeraj's exceptional performance has inspired other athletes and we have seen Avinash Sable defeating Kenyans and Eldhose Paul performing at his best to claim the gold medal."

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