File photo of Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem© AFP
Pakistan’s star javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem has refused to comment on his arch-rival Neeraj Chopra, who was recently trolled for inviting the Olympic gold medallist for the now-postponed NC Classic in Bengaluru, due to ongoing cross-border tensions. The deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s popular tourist destination Pahalgam, which killed 26 people, took place before Neeraj had extended his invitation to the Pakistani thrower, but the Indian ace was still criticised on social media.
“I don’t want to make any comments about Neeraj because of the ongoing conflict with India,” Nadeem told reporters here.
“I come from a village and I will only say that me and my family will always stand with our army,” added Nadeem.
Neeraj had finished second best to Nadeem at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Neeraj too had echoed similar sentiments ahead of the Doha leg of the Diamond League Meeting on May 15, saying that he and Nadeem were never really close friends.
The NC Classic javelin event, named after the celebrated Indian and initially scheduled for May 24 in Bengaluru, was postponed earlier this month in the wake of the military conflict with Pakistan.
Nadeem said he was aiming for the 100m mark after his gold medal in Paris.
“I have always said that I always compete with myself and my ambition is to hit the 100m mark one day,” the Pakistani javelin thrower said.
He added that if Neeraj is doing well, “it’s good for him”.
Neeraj recently came up with a personal-best throw of 90.23m in the Doha leg of the Diamond League Meeting. To breach the 90m mark is something that he had been striving for more than five years.
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