‘Didn’t realise was flanked by Chinese and Pak athletes’

New Delhi, September 5 

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It was quite a moment at the Asian Games when Indian gold-medallist Neeraj Chopra stood flanked by a Chinese and a Pakistani on the podium but the star javelin thrower said it didn’t even strike him as he was consumed by the national anthem.

Chopra broke the national record with a throw of 88.06m, while China’s Liu Qizhen (82.22m) won 

silver and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem (80.75m) won bronze.

The picture of Chopra shaking hands with Nadeem on the podium went viral on social media, with tennis star Sania Mirza saying that it showed why sports was the “best education you can provide your child with.” 

“Teaches you sportsmanship, equality, respect and most importantly humanity! If only some people can learn this from our champion athletes too,” she wrote on her Twitter handle. 

Chopra said that during the ceremony, he was only focussed on the national anthem. “I did not realise (at that moment) that I was standing with them. Seeing the tri-colour and with the rendering of the national anthem, I was becoming emotional, remembering my struggle and hard work,” Chopra, who is training in Czech Republic, said.

Chopra, however, said that sports should unite people. “Sports always teaches us to unite people, to be good towards your competitors,” he said. 

In the recent Diamond League Final in Zurich, Chopra missed the bronze by a whisker as reigning Olympics champion Thomas Roehler of Germany pipped him by a mere three centimetres with his final throw.

“I was about to win the bronze as I was third till the final round but Roehler pushed me down.” — PTI

Rathore vows fair distribution of funds for Oly

Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Wednesday promised “surgical” precision in distribution of funds to athletes preparing for the 2020 Olympic Games, asserting that centralisation of the process has made bureaucratic hurdles a thing of past. “We have very clearly and very professionally divided our working between grass roots and elite sportspersons. The elite athletes are being looked after by a different set of professional people so that there is no bureaucracy,” Rathore said. “We have just begun working on systems that can connect the athletes to the TOPS absolutely straight, transparent and quick,” he added