“Whether the athlete is from Pakistan or any other country, he represents his country. He is the first player. So it is not that we will say anything against that person because he is from Pakistan. There should be respect for the athletes,” wrestler Bajrang, who received a bronze medal within the 65kg weight class on the identical day Chopra received the javelin gold, informed The Indian Express.
Chopra was dragged into an issue after his remark in an interview, that Pakistani javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem was “walking around” along with his javelin in the course of the Olympic finals, was twisted by folks with “vested interests”.
Chopra mentioned on Twitter on Thursday, “I would request everyone to please don’t use me and my comments as a medium for your vested interests and propaganda. Sports teach us to be together and be one. Extremely disappointed to see some of the public’s reactions to the recent comments.”
Nadeem mentioned the 2 throwers had been “very good friends”. He informed The Indian Express on Friday: “Neeraj bhai ne bilkul theek kaha hai. Hum dono bahut achchhe dost hain aur aisi cheezen nahin honi chahiye (Neeraj did the right thing. We are very good friends and such things should not happen).”
Chopra’s feedback obtained assist from the broader sports activities fraternity in India.
Rio Olympics bronze medalist wrestler Sakshi Malik mentioned: “I absolutely do not approve of athletes being dragged into controversies or being used for political reasons and spreading hatred. And we get caught up in bizarre controversies. Like Neeraj is very badly affected by what happened, and just thinking that a very small unreferenced comment has created such a huge controversy.”
“All kinds of strange questions are being asked and news channels have turned a small ordinary act of Pakistani javelin thrower using Neeraj’s spear for one attempt,” Sakshi mentioned. “I urge followers to assist Indian athletes in addition to perceive that our on-field rivalry by no means equates to off-field rivalry. They are our associates and companions of the identical sport. And no athlete can be comfy getting used for hate in opposition to one other nation.
Table tennis participant Sharath Kamal described the incident as “disturbing”.
“When we participated in the 2004 SAIF Games in Islamabad, we always had a police or army escort with us. It was always the same person, so we were talking, and both sides felt that what we were told was different from the ground reality. We are all alike people,” Kamal, a five-time Olympian, informed this paper.
He continued: “We went shopping and he came with us, showing us which store to go to, what’s good to buy and what’s not. That’s when we realized how much hatred feeds people around. , which is unnecessary.”
Chopra and Nadeem, who completed fifth in Tokyo, share a cordial relationship exterior the competitors. Even earlier than the ultimate, the 2 athletes sat subsequent to one another whereas reliving nostalgia throughout their bus journey from the Village to the National Stadium.
Bajrang mentioned that it is vital for the folks to respect the spirit of the athletes. “I haven’t seen Neeraj’s video, but sport teaches us to be united instead of discriminate. When I meet wrestlers from Russia, America, it’s always very cordial, it’s not like we’re rivals; We are all like brothers. The spirit of competition is only on the mat,” Bajrang mentioned.
His views had been echoed by former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha, who mentioned that sports activities and politics shouldn’t be blended. He mentioned, ‘Whether I performed in opposition to Pakistan or Australia or Germany, it’s all the identical. It’s a struggle on the bottom, however I shake arms earlier than the sport and shake arms after the sport. We do not take something off the sector,” Rasquinha mentioned.
He mentioned, ‘I’ve at all times believed that we must always play the sport in its purest type. Give every little thing for the nation within the match we’re representing, however do not combine (sports activities and politics).”
During the Tokyo Olympic last, Chopra, earlier than his first throw, couldn’t discover his spear earlier than he felt it with Arshad. He requested for it and sprinted in the beginning of his run-up. “I was looking for my spear at the beginning of the final (at the Olympics). I was not able to find it. Suddenly I saw that Arshad Nadeem was walking with my spear. Then I told him ‘Brother give me this spear. This is my spear. I have to throw with it’. So you must have noticed that I took my first throw in a hurry,” Chopra informed The Times of India.
Stories run by some web sites primarily based on this quote and feedback on social media portrayed Nadeem because the dangerous man.
Discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur, who completed sixth on the Tokyo Games, known as Nadeem a “nice person” who’s at all times “eager to learn”.
“On the field, I can understand that players compete against each other. But once off the field, we are all good friends,” she mentioned. “Sport is aware of no boundaries. Be it India, Pakistan, the sport must be considered in the correct spirit.
With inputs from Shahid Judge and Shivani Naikoo
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
