Neeraj Chopra Clinches Silver Despite Injury at Paris Olympics

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Neeraj Chopra on securing his second Olympic medal, despite battling an injury. Modi also praised Chopra's mother, Saroj Devi, for her supportive comments about Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who set a new Olympic record to win gold. Chopra remains determined for future events.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday extended his congratulations to Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra for winning his second Olympic medal, in spite of an injury. During a phone call, Modi lauded Chopra's mother, Saroj Devi, for her magnanimous remarks about Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who set a new Olympic record to clinch the gold medal. Saroj Devi expressed happiness for Nadeem, saying he is ''like her child''.

In the conversation, Chopra mentioned that he could not aim for the gold due to his injury. Modi advised him not to worry about missing the gold and highlighted that very few athletes achieve the milestone of winning two Olympic medals. ''You have accomplished this despite your injury, which is exceptional. It will inspire our younger generation. This spirit of doing something for the country drives us,'' Prime Minister Modi said. He added that he would like to discuss Chopra's injury in detail to explore the best ways to manage it moving forward.

Chopra vowed to continue his hard work and perform better in upcoming sporting events. On Thursday, Chopra secured the silver medal at the Paris Games with a season's best throw of 89.45m, following Nadeem's Olympic record-breaking throw of 92.97m.

With this silver medal, Chopra has become only the third Indian and the first in track-and-field to win consecutive individual Olympic medals. His mother, Saroj Devi, expressed her delight over her son's accomplishments and reiterated her supportive stance towards Nadeem, who had broken the record to surpass the Indian defending champion in Paris.