‘Bhai give this javelin to me’, when Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem did THIS to Neeraj Chopra before final

Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra revealed that Pakistan athlete Arshad Nadeem had taken away his javelin just before the final.

India's Neeraj Chopra (left) with Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem. (Source: Twitter)

Neeraj Chopra is currently the toast of the nation, having won the Tokyo Olympics gold medal earlier this month. But everything didn’t go according to plan for India’s first track-and-field Olympics gold medallist. Just before his final in Tokyo, the Indian star wasn’t able to locate his javelin because Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem had walked away with it.

“The story is that I was searching for my javelin at the start of the final. I was not able to find it. Suddenly I saw Arshad Nadeem was moving around with my javelin. Then I told him, ‘Bhai give this javelin to me, it is my javelin! I have to throw with it’. Then he gave it back to me,” Neeraj Chopra told TOI in an interview.

“That’s why you must have seen I took my first throw hurriedly! Arshad Nadeem gave a really good performance in the qualifying round as well as the final. I think it is good for Pakistan, they have a chance to show more interest in javelin and do well at the international stage in the future,” Chopra went on to add about Nadeem’s performance at the Tokyo Olympics.

We have a warhorse ( King Klaus) , we have a spearman (@Neeraj_chopra1), and we have a poster for the next superhit series: Game of Throws https://t.co/H3nkRBKxHZ pic.twitter.com/G1qIF7HQDf — Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) August 24, 2021

The young Indian athlete has been attending functions and events non-stop since his return from the Tokyo Olympics. Neeraj Chopra also fell ill during this period.

“I had fever. I used to be drenched in sweat while attending functions and then I used to get into air-conditioned cars. I wasn’t getting any rest and I wasn't eating properly because of the busy routine,” Chopra added.

The 23-year-old insisted that these things need to change and sport needed continuous attention. “Aisa nahin hona chahiye ki ab medal aa gaya toh sab abhi kar do, aur phir ek mahiney baad sab shaant ho jao (it shouldn't be as if we have to complete every celebration immediately because an Olympic gold medal has come, and then forget about it after a month). The sport needs continuous attention.

“These things need to change. It’s a nice thing that a medal has come but everything needs to be systematic,” Chopra said in the interview.